Mbappé, La Liga, and the Next China That’s Still China I recently came across a book by two @McKinsey partners, The Next China Is Still China. I spend hours every day reading and listening to news and research about China. So I went on YouTube and found a book talk by one of the authors, Joe Ngai, chairman of McKinsey Greater China. youtu.be/YNKTElHFOa0?is… Much of what he says about China’s manufacturing prowess is valid and convincing. But his advice to German companies is troubling: “If I were in Germany, I would think about China as part of my strength, not my enemy.” He goes further, urging German companies to make China “part of your ecosystem” and “partner with Chinese companies in order to make yourself more competitive.” But his entire argument misses the bigger picture: Would the world actually be a better place if China dominated global manufacturing and became an indispensable part of global supply chains? That was the day before yesterday. Yesterday, I came across this extraordinary story. time.com/article/2026/1… French football superstar @KMbappe Kylian Mbappé had apparently committed an unforgivable crime: laughing at an internet meme depicting him as Mao Zedong, whom he casually referred to as a Chinese dictator. Outrage swept Chinese social media. Sponsors dumped him. Advertisements disappeared. Retailers practically had to scissor Mbappé’s face off every water bottle he graced overnight. Chinese state television suspended broadcasts of Spain’s La Liga matches. Mbappé apologized. In three languages, no less. @LaLiga apologized too. Chinese netizens then demanded that @realmadrid apologize. Today, Real Madrid duly obliged. And China still hasn’t decided when Spanish football can return to its television screens. All because someone unwittingly called Mao a dictator. Quite an impressive demonstration of China’s global influence. One French footballer’s joke, and an entire Spanish football league is brought to its knees. Perhaps this is the missing chapter in Ngai’s book: China’s manufacturing prowess may be world-class, but its political absurdities come as part of the package. The next China is still China. That may precisely be the problem.