Most people take measures to make their homes look presentable when having company over, right? So what do you do if you are a public official preparing to host a summit with China’s President Xi Jinping? “Cleaning house” takes on a whole new meaning in San Francisco, CA, where taking out the trash means sweeping the drug addicts under the rug and hiding evidence of the City by the Bay’s overwhelming homelessness and crime scenes. To top it off, Democrat policymakers are being dubbed hypocritical for essentially building a wall to protect those attending the Asia-Pacific-Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference happening this week.
California Lawmakers Criticized for Double Standards
(Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden will be meeting with Chinese leader Xi on Wednesday, Nov. 15, during the APEC conference to discuss “issues in the U.S.-PRC bilateral relationship, the continued importance of maintaining open lines of communication, and a range of regional and global issues,” the White House announced last week. In addition, “the Leaders will also discuss how the United States and the PRC can continue to responsibly manage competition and work together where our interests align, particularly on transnational challenges that affect the international community.”
Ahead of this meeting, California lawmakers have been busy trying to spruce up the Golden State, attempting to hide the seedier aspects of their jurisdictions. Gov. Gavin Newsom, for instance, went to China in October to meet with Xi on matters of climate control and a shared partnership. The governor’s office wrote on X at the time, that “Divorce is not an option.” The post continued:
“The only way we can solve the climate crisis is to continue our long-standing cooperation with China. As two of the world’s largest economies, the work we do together is felt in countless communities on both sides of the Pacific.
“Despite major differences, we share our humanity – our desire to feel protected, connected and respected is universal – and that humanity is what should drive us to work together to stop the greatest existential threat our planet has ever known.”
(Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
However, despite the claim to respect humanity, black metal fenced barricades have been constructed outside the Moscone Center where the meeting will take place. The End Wokeness account on the social media platform X has 1.8 million followers and wrote, “San Francisco’s homeless population was entirely cleared out for Xi Jinping. The Government can easily fix our cities overnight. It just doesn’t want to.” Another X account user, Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng, who writes about China and has 244,300 followers, posted, “U.S. taxpayers’ money is being used to protect the ‘safety’ of a communist dictator, suppressing the voices of the public living in America.”
Asians Against Wokeness posted on X about the city’s wall, saying, “Woke liberals fear/respect Xi Daddy more than their fellow Americans. Soft core authoritarians fear/respect hardcore authoritarians.”
Newsom even confirmed the house cleaning was to impress the out-of-towners. During a press conference, he said, “I know folks say, ‘Oh they’re just cleaning up this place because all these fancy leaders are coming into town.’ That’s true, because it’s true.”
“The sidewalks in the APEC zone, including sticky and urine-perfumed Van Ness Avenue, have been silver polished on the Eve of APEC,” Sebastian, a San Francisco resident, told California Globe. “Walking along Van Ness Ave today was like walking along twice-a-day-mobbed Orchard Road in Singapore.” He added:
“They are essentially locking the dignitaries up to keep them from discovering just how bad and dangerous the town is. And these are the Democrats who say that border fencing doesn’t work. The same leftists that claim that fences and walls do not work and are inhumane are the same leftists that live behind fences and walls.
Residents in the APEC security zone must pass through security checks from Nov. 14 – 18 just to go home, according to Sebastian. In a city already choked with traffic, streets will be closed, some buses won’t be running, and parking is eliminated within the area. Add to that, a protest on Sunday, Nov. 12, had thousands of people demonstrating against the conference. The protesters included the Palestinian liberation activists, climate change advocates, and anti-capitalist organizations, who packed the Embarcadero Plaza and marched up Market Street toward Moscone Center.
“The U.S. is attempting to push free trade policies in the Asia Pacific Rim. And we see a history of those policies being detrimental to workers’ rights and the environment,” said Narissa Lee, representative of the No to APEC Coalition.
California law makers such as Newsom and Nancy Pelosi have been strong advocates against a border wall, calling it inhumane and ineffective, yet when it comes to protecting themselves and dignitaries, barriers and borders are deemed necessary. This is the condemnation being thrown at Democrat leaders in San Francisco as residents call out lawmakers for practicing a double standard.
