The increased attention brought to living conditions in San Francisco by the meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was accompanied this week by mockery and pity on Chinese social media.
Social media users in China expressed shock over the "dirtiness" and the extent of homelessness in the Golden Gate city, with some saying it confirmed the Communist Party-led approach to governance was superior to America's democratic system.
San Francisco hosted the highly anticipated Biden-Xi summit on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the annual APEC leaders' forum. It was their first in-person meeting in a year and one both sides hoped would help cool the simmering tension between the superpowers.
With San Francisco in the limelight, videos and photos filled Weibo, China's equivalent to X (formerly Twitter), showing scenes of unhoused people prone on sidewalks and tent cities.
One influencer with nearly half a million followers marveled at the speed with which the city had cleared the streets this week in anticipation of the APEC summit. "I've never seen the U.S. so efficient!" he wrote under a video caption.
His footage of downtown San Francisco noted the heavier-than-usual police presence due to the summit. He contrasted the sense of security with an older video that appeared to show two men looting a car in broad daylight.
The video had nearly 400,000 views at the time of publication.
"The smell of liberal democracy is gone," said one Weibo user in the comments.
Another wrote: "Maybe the governor thought we were cleaning up to meet him," a reference to California Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent weeklong trip to China.
"Americans will become a socialist country sooner or later," said another netizen.
A Weibo reproduction of a separate TikTok video showed a city-sanctioned tent encampment for homeless people in San Francisco. The clip drew a mix of surprise and contempt.
"San Francisco is so chaotic," one person said. "The light of American-style democracy," one sarcastic comment read.
Ahead of the APEC forum, which ends on Friday, city officials cleared the downtown area—removing graffiti, scrubbing sidewalks and decorating well-trafficked areas with new murals. They also cleared homeless people from around the Moscone Center, where the conference is being held.
Chronic homelessness has been on the rise in the U.S. since 2016 and is particularly pronounced in San Francisco, where it affects an estimated 9.5 people per every 1,000. The city has also been experiencing rampant fentanyl abuse and talent flight, losing 7.5 percent of its population between 2020 and 2022.
Newsom, who previously served as the city's mayor, drew criticism over the clean-up operation, which he likened to hosting guests.
"You know, you have people over to your house, you're going to clean up the house," he told reporters this week.
Mainstream Chinese media, including the more hawkish state-sponsored outlets, have played up Xi's trip to meet with Biden.
A Morning Consult poll published earlier this month showed the proportion of Chinese who said they viewed the U.S. as an "enemy" had dropped to 57 percent from 66 percent in April. However, the survey's analysts said they believed this was more due to the shifting focus on economic headwinds facing China rather than rising goodwill toward America.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
