China’s Xi Jinping Visits U.S. in 6 Years: Supporters and Protesters Clash in San Francisco

President Xi Jinping’s Long-Awaited Visit to the United States

On September 14th local time, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the United States for the first time in six years, and both protesters and supporters met him, as Bloomberg reported.

The report stated that President Xi arrived in San Francisco around 3 p.m. local time, where U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and California Governor Gavin Newsom greeted him.

Supporters, consisting of Chinese students and immigrants, reportedly traveled by bus to California to gather on the day of the visit. Ja Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, said, “It is a common practice to mobilize the local Chinese community and local Chinese citizens to welcome the supreme leader,” and added, “It can project a strong image.”

Xinhua News Agency reported that President Xi entered the country with Cai Qi, Secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Reports also indicate that numerous Chinese community representatives and student representatives warmly welcomed him on his way to the hotel.

Aerial Messages and Ground Protests: Criticisms of China’s Policies

However, Bloomberg reported that sporadic protests near the summit venue tarnished the image of the ‘welcomed leader’ that China hoped for. According to Bloomberg, a plane flew over the Moscone Center, where the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit took place, bearing the words ‘End the Chinese Communist Party, Free China, Free Hong Kong, Free Tibet, Free Uighurs.’ Observers also spotted a Chinese woman carrying a banner that demanded Shanghai authorities ‘return her husband’ and a man holding a placard that denounced China’s forced labor camps.

Both sides have been striving to ensure a smooth visit by President Xi and the U.S.-China summit. China, in particular, has recently extended its hand to the U.S. by purchasing 3 million tons of U.S. soybeans. President Joe Biden also told reporters at the White House before leaving for San Francisco, “What we’re trying to do is improve relations.”

Ahead of his meeting with President Biden, President Xi drew attention with his remarks emphasizing more economic cooperation with Taiwan. According to Xinhua, President Xi sent a letter to the Cross-Strait Entrepreneurs Summit held in Nanjing the day before, stating, “The economies of both sides belong to the Chinese national economy, and the compatriots on both sides are a community of shared destiny,” and emphasized that “the entrepreneurs’ summit should promote the peaceful and integrated development of cross-strait relations and help realize China’s unification and the revival of the Chinese nation.”

This is President Xi’s first visit to the U.S. in six years since he visited Florida in 2017 to discuss trade and North Korean nuclear issues with then-U.S. President Donald Trump.

By. Kim Hyun Jung