San Francisco Gets Clean… for Xi

Plus: Therapists Offer Tips on Reducing Holiday Stress

San Francisco Gets Clean… for Xi

The Hill reported that President Biden will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 15 in San Francisco during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. It'‘s seen as a crucial meeting amid strained U.S.-China relations, with likely discussions on military communication severed by China, Americans still being detained, fentanyl precursor chemicals, and AI misuse concerns. The Hill added that election interference, Chinese aggression toward Taiwan, and China’s ties with North Korea and Iran will also be discussed. Quite a wishlist for those familiar with President Biden’s conversation skills.

In preparation for the visit, the city of San Francisco had a transformation worthy of a reality show. The New York Times reported:

San Francisco had the air this week of teenagers frantically cleaning up after a house party with their parents on the way home.

On Market Street, the city’s main thoroughfare, maintenance workers resurfaced uneven sidewalks and installed plywood over empty tree wells.

Nearby, a crew gave a long-derelict plaza a makeover by turning it into a skateboard park and outdoor cafe with pingpong tables, chess boards and scores of potted plants. Elsewhere, workers painted decorative crosswalks and new murals, wiped away graffiti, picked up piles of trash and removed scaffolding to show off a refurbished clock tower at the Ferry Building.

A post from Oilfield Rando on Twitter also summed it up nicely:

Look. I get it. I also always clean up my work site a lot more when my boss’s boss is coming to do a walkthrough.

It’s just too bad they couldn’t clean up the city for the taxpaying residents of San Francisco.

RELATED: Drug addicts, homeless plaguing San Francisco’s downtown miraculously disappear ahead of Biden, Xi Jinping summit (The New York Post)

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