Straight Arrow News contributor Larry Lindsey examined Chinese domestic media coverage of the meeting to identify the hopes, expectations and perceptions of the Chinese public regarding the events in San Francisco. Lindsey concludes that Chinese domestic coverage was overly favorable and propagandistic, yet also very plausible, and that Chinese writers ultimately noted a number of sound arguments and observations.

President Biden and General Secretary Xi Jinping had their first meeting in a year in San Francisco. Expectations were low. The U.S. media basically said it was a snooze. Or, as Winston Churchill said, it’s still a good thing, “It’s better to jaw jaw than to wah wah.” Using Churchill’s accent, it rhymes.

Well, the Chinese media had a different take. They called what happened the creation of “the San Francisco vision.” They said this summit is a strategic and far-reaching meeting, leaving a profound mark in the history of U.S.-China relations. Well, of course they’re going to tell that to their own people, because they’re trying to make Jinping look good. Okay. So, certainly their reaction was propaganda. But it was not totally implausible propaganda. I think that looking at it, they had three good points.