Mbappe's Fall Was Entirely Deserved

French footballer Mbappe has deeply offended China.

On the 27th, a number of Chinese companies announced the termination of their contracts with him, and relevant platforms removed content related to him, with match broadcasts and advertisements involving Mbappe all halted.

This list will surely grow longer and longer, until all of Mbappe's China-related cooperation is reduced to zero.

Anyone who fails to respect China or hurts the feelings of the Chinese people should not expect to earn a single cent from the Chinese market. This signal is strong and resolute.

As a professional football star with world-class influence, Mbappe has gained business opportunities in the Chinese market over the past few years that far exceed those of many of his international peers.

During the World Cup, his deep binding with Chinese brands, the operation of content on social platforms, and the implementation of many offline commercial activities all showed that Chinese brands and Chinese consumers gave him a sufficiently large stage for exposure and brought him rich commercial returns.

But today's reality has delivered a cruel slap to Mbappe. On issues involving national sentiment, no one has room to act willfully.

This also reminds some other people not to harbor any侥幸 mentality on this issue.

Over the past few decades, some international public figures have enjoyed the enormous benefits brought by the Chinese market while speaking recklessly on China-related issues, showing no sense of awe on major issues of right and wrong, and treating erroneous remarks as so-called "individual expression" or "freedom of speech." Mbappe is not an isolated case.

This time Mbappe has fallen, and his fall was entirely deserved. His lesson should also become a clear red line for all foreign public figures who want to enter the Chinese market.

The Chinese market has never rejected any capable and beloved international public figure. We have always welcomed outstanding athletes and artists from around the world to develop in China with an open and inclusive attitude.

But foreign public figures must first learn to respect China's history and culture, respect the shared feelings of the Chinese people, and hold a basic sense of awe toward China's legal bottom line and public order and good customs.

In our future commercial cooperation contracts, the clauses constraining public speech and behavior should be further refined.

The national feelings of the Chinese people brook no provocation, and the Chinese market will never leave a place for anyone arrogant and rude.