BEIJING: Sanrio, the Japanese company that owns the popular Hello Kitty character, apologised Thursday over its tie-up with a TV spy drama criticised as anti-China, cancelling a merchandise collaboration with the show.
It comes after Chinese sponsors dropped football superstar Kylian Mbappe over comments calling communist leader Mao Zedong a "dictator", which the Real Madrid forward later apologised for.
"We have recently received feedback from various quarters regarding the collaborative merchandise with the Japanese television drama VIVANT," Sanrio's Chinese unit said on social media platform Weibo.
"We sincerely apologise for any concern this may have caused," the post said.
