French soccer star Mbappe said sorry to China. Takaichi shouldn’t.

People walk past a bus featuring French soccer star Kylian Mbappe in Shanghai on Oct. 27. Mbappe’s experience shows that apologizing to Beijing offers little reward, which should reinforce Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s refusal to retreat. | AFP-JIJI

Nov 11, 2026

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and French soccer star Kylian Mbappe have little in common, save perhaps the occasional boast about their hardcore work ethic. One is responsible for the world’s fourth-largest economy, home to 122 million people; the other answers to club management (and, to be fair, the French nation during the World Cup). But they’ve both found themselves on the wrong side of Beijing for saying something the Chinese state would rather nobody said.

The Real Madrid striker was accused of “hurting the feelings of the Chinese people” over a perceived insult to Mao Zedong, founder of the People’s Republic. Apologies from the player, his team and the Spanish League have so far done little good; sponsorships have been torn up and La Liga banished from state TV.

One year ago last Saturday, Takaichi also made supposedly hurtful comments about the possibility for Japan to become embroiled in armed conflict over Taiwan. Beijing’s campaign against her was similarly swift, and has included both rhetorical threats to have her decapitated and very real limits on the exports of rare earths.

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