Biden showed his mobile phone and asked, “Who?”
A 1985 photo with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background
Xi Jinping responded, “Oh, 38 years ago,” with nostalgia
Chinese authorities have released a photo of U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping smiling brightly during their summit in San Francisco on November 15 (local time), their first in a year. They also shared a pleasant anecdote from the meeting.
Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, posted a photo of the two leaders laughing and conversing on X on November 16, along with a brief exchange between them. According to Hua, President Biden pointed to a cell phone photo with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background and asked President Xi, “Do you recognize this young man?” Upon seeing this, President Xi responded, “Oh, yes. That was 38 years ago.”
President Xi’s Visit to the U.S. in His Early Career
The photo on the cell phone was of a young Xi Jinping in his early 30s, taken in front of San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge in 1985. At the time, President Xi, then secretary of the Hebei Province’s Zhengding County Party Committee, was visiting the U.S. to study American agriculture and livestock technology and had taken a commemorative photo in front of the bridge. Hua did not specify whether this conversation occurred before or after the summit.
Previously, Chinese state-run media had invoked records of President Xi’s past visits to San Francisco in anticipation of the summit.
By. Song Joo Hee
Most Commented