Ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Week 2023, San Francisco swept key “hot spots” where homelessness and public drug markets have been an “unrelenting” problem, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
Online, people marveled at the cleanup, wondering why it had taken the visit of fancy foreign dignitaries to address the persistent problem that has defined perceptions of the city in national commentary.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) added to that narrative by essentially confirming it last Thursday.
“I know folks are saying, ‘Oh they’re just cleaning up this place because all those fancy leaders are coming to town.’ That’s true because it’s true, but it’s also true for months and months and months prior to APEC we’ve been having conversations,” Newsom said at the unveiling of a new tree nursery, reported ABC 7’s San Francisco affiliate KGO.
In reaction to the clip, plenty of right-wing users on X saw it as an acknowledgment by Newsom that the cleanup was to appease China’s Communist Party President Xi Jinping.
“Gruesome Newsome would tell you that an ice cube isn’t cold, and get people to believe it,” wrote @tazen1000. “Go figure that he cleaned up San Francisco for the Chinese, probably to sell it to them.”
“Gavin Newsom admitted he only cleaned up the mess on the streets of San Francisco, in order to please Xi Jinping,” added @domenicadelia22. “No Shame! He removed the homeless & drug infested temporarily. So in other words, he’s able to clean it up if he wanted to. He said, That’s true Because it’s true.”
APEC will bring together leaders from the 21 members of the group to talk about encouraging trade and economic growth across the Pacific region, reported the Diplomat.
According to emails obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco’s superintendent of Street Environmental Services Christopher McDaniels brought up the problem neighborhoods at the end of December.
“With APEC coming, I am concerned about historical encampments that are close to priority areas,” he wrote.
“[W]e need to stay on top of the growing encampments; do we have a plan?” added San Francisco’s Deputy Director of Operations DiJaida Durden on the same chain, referencing APEC as the reason.
Critics in San Francisco pointed out how cynical the operation was.
“I think it’s very cynical to be using it like an Instagram moment, basically to sell real estate in the city,” Karl Kramer, campaign co-director for the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition told the Associated Press.
According to that report, the city won’t be opening any new homeless centers for the event, instead relying on private charitable and faith organizations to take on the overflow of displaced homeless people in other, less newsworthy neighborhoods.
“Obviously any time you put on an event, by definition, you know, you have over at your house, you’re going to clean up the house,” Newsom said last Thursday. “You’re going to make sure the kids, you know, make their beds. I was just with President Xi, first thing he talked about was San Francisco. First thing he remembered was the Golden Gate Bridge when he was here in 1985. Should have seen the smile on his face … this place is beloved, and its best days are in front of it, not behind it.”
Online, some users just hoped that Xi’s presence in the city would continue, posting pictures of gleaming sci-fi cities as the future of the Bay Area if he stayed long enough.
Newsom did not announce any plans to handle the homeless after the conference ended.
