cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/61509469

• French footballer Kylian Mbappé was widely condemned recently in China over its remarks that former Chinese leader Mao Zedong was “a dictator”
• The ironic bit with this case is that Chinese media censored the word "dictator"and were just saying that Mbappé made ‘inappropriate remarks about China,’ while people inside China’s “Great Firewall” are unaware what exactly these inappropriate remarks were
• Chinese AI were not helpful - until maybe Weibo’s “Comment Robot” joined in responding to a post asking “What did Mbappé do? Was what he said wrong?" with: “He told the truth, that’s all. Some people just don’t like to hear it.”

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Last week saw the eruption of what The New York Times described as “one of the more improbable football-related storylines of recent times.” French footballer Kylian Mbappé was widely condemned in China over a comment from a months-old YouTube video, in which he expressed amusement at a meme featuring his own face superimposed onto that of “a guy—I think it was a Chinese dictator.” The meme is one of many playing on Mbappé’s nickname “the dictator,” bestowed for his allegedly heavy-handed behind-the-scenes behavior. He did not mention Mao Zedong by name, but a combined image of the two men was inserted into the video.

China may be a self-proclaimed people’s democratic dictatorship, but that formulation is conceptually and, in Chinese, terminologically distinct from that of personal dictatorship, and Chinese authorities reject the label’s application to Mao or other top leaders.

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A complicating factor in this case, though, is that many in China did not know what the offending comment actually was. From Rebecca Bailey at The Guardian, on October 28:

[…] The [Chinese] football app Dongqiudi was among the first to release a statement condemning the “inappropriate remarks”, but said: “Because his comments were offensive to China and the Chinese people, we cannot translate them.” Chinese media have reported on reactions such as the brand desertions, and the China Football Association’s lodging of a “stern protest” with Real Madrid – who apologised on Wednesday “to the Chinese people for any offence caused” – but have generally steered clear of outlining Mbappé’s precise offence.

The topic was still trending on Chinese social media on Wednesday morning, with one hashtag relating to the superstar’s apology boasting more than 600m views. Some posts asked variations on a simple question: “What did he actually say?”

Manya Koetse, editor of the Eye on Digital China newsletter, said in a post on X: “Many netizens without a VPN are still left in the dark about why all the talk about boycotting Mbappé is actually happening.” [Koetse examined the controversy at greater length at What’s On Weibo.]

[…] Jennifer Pan, professor of communication at Stanford University, said the difficulty of doing independent social science surveys in the past decade meant “our understanding of what Chinese people actually think is weak”. Pan said: “Social media doesn’t fill that gap. It’s noisy, unrepresentative, and censored … What we see is that companies, platforms, broadcasters and the foreign ministry moved together quickly. Did this follow public anger, or did this produce public anger? Either is possible, and we can’t tell which came first.”

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Recent translations have shown Chinese users turning to AI for help in navigating the mysteries of online censorship, but tests by fact-checkers at France 24 suggested that chatbots were able to offer little clarity on Mbappé’s comments.

The situation was discussed in some of the online commentary compiled by CDT Chinese. ”The funniest thing about this Mbappé situation is that all the media are saying he made ‘inappropriate remarks about China,’ and that a huge mob of people inside the [Great Fire]wall are up in arms,” said one comment. “But as for exactly what these inappropriate remarks actually were, those who don’t know can’t get a straight answer, and those who do know are talking in riddles." These riddles included: “[It’s about] the person on the 100-yuan note," and, “He said Tang Guoqiang was an art student." (Tang Guoqiang is an actor famous for portraying Mao; “an art student” is an apparent reference to Hitler as a symbol of dictatorship in general.)

Weibo’s controversial AI “Comment Robot” joined in, responding to a post asking “What did Mbappé do? Was what he said wrong?" with:

“He told the truth, that’s all. Some people just don’t like to hear it.”

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Other collected social media comments are translated from Chinese:

luzelun134960: He wasn’t wrong! The whole world, apart from mainland China, knows Mao was a dictator.

Jammesavj: I’m not offended. Please don’t presume to speak for the Chinese people.

maihu8964: The pink maggots make memes of other countries’ leaders every day, but they’re not happy when the tables are turned.

Rongshen021116: What Mbappé said is a fact. Of course Mao Zedong was a dictator.

kiligulyanov: Bappé didn’t even say “Mao Zedong,” he just said “a Chinese dictator,” and everyone assumed he meant Mao. Couldn’t he have been talking about Chiang Kai-shek?

xr95718872: Telling the truth is an error these days.

mngshanqi: Milked again? [A pun on “insulted.”] Is it even possible to get through life without “insulting China”?

TENPHOENIX2018: When even the reply-bot Robert dares to say, “He just told the truth,” you know it’s not the algorithm being banned, but truth itself.

gaochao17lngs: Mbappé had no idea that China is still a dictatorship.

TianCai67: Pinks within the [Great Fire]wall amuse themselves Photoshopping gross memes of Takaichi Sanae, “The General,” and Trump all the time, and think they’re being hilarious. Then Mbappé drops one joke in passing, and they go nuts.

Luvsic0929: This Mbappé thing made me realise that Chinese higher education is a total failure, without a doubt.

lilaoshizuikeai: Imagine foreigners who’ve just observed China’s great flame wars with Brazil [over socialist perspectives on LGBT rights and drug policy] and Turkey [over Uyghur identity], and now see the spectacle of little pinks banding together to defend a dictator who killed tens of millions of their own compatriots. The stereotypes runneth over.

huang3feng: So here’s a crazy question: right now the Chinese internet is engulfed in a Cultural Revolution-style struggle session against Mbappé, even X is flooded with little pinks, the whole country’s performing dictatorship, and what Mbappé said was wrong?

ooopqoqjs: The three inevitable experiences in any foreigner’s life: birth, death, and insulting China.

cc14514: You can’t make jokes with insecure clowns around.

liuyifei1065: Doesn’t this just go to prove it’s a dictatorship? No dissenting voices … everyone marching in lockstep.

[Here are all the comment in Chinese.]

There is more in the linked article.

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