Welcome to Xi Jinping has also become a "paid project"? From San Francisco to Washington, the CCP's overseas "mass scene" is once again under scrutiny

Welcome to Xi Jinping has also become a "paid project"? From San Francisco to Washington, the CCP's overseas "mass scene" is once again under scrutiny

Before Xi Jinping's visit to the United States, recruitment information for "free air tickets and accommodation" has reappeared in overseas Chinese communities. Combining the old example of the 2023 APEC meeting in San Francisco, the embassies, consulates, and funding chains behind the so-called "spontaneous welcome" have once again raised questions.

According to current public information, US President Trump has previously announced that Xi Jinping will visit the United States on September

1. Reuters reported on July 23 that Trump explicitly stated that Xi Jinping will visit the United States on this day, and the topics of their meeting are expected to include major issues in Sino-US relations such as artificial intelligence. The Chinese government has also confirmed that Xi Jinping will make a state visit to the United States this autumn.

However, in the WeChat group screenshots that have been circulating, someone claimed that the activity is scheduled from "22nd to 26th" and announced that it is related to "meeting with President Xi Jinping and President Trump", and that it is sponsored by the "Chinese Embassy and Chamber of Commerce". There are even messages such as "free air tickets, free food and accommodation" and "send me your ID, I've signed up".

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It needs to be emphasized that based on these two chat screenshots alone, it is currently impossible to independently confirm the specific identity of the organizer, nor can it be proven that the so-called "Chinese Embassy funding" has been officially implemented. However, it is worth noting that this is not because of a single chat record, but because this organizational approach is highly similar to the model that has been investigated and confirmed by American mainstream media during the 2023 APEC meeting in San Francisco.

San Francisco has left a "manual"

When Xi Jinping attended the APEC meeting in San Francisco in 2023, a large number of people waving the five-star red flag appeared on the streets. At that time, some Chinese community information had already shown that organizers provided transportation, meals, and accommodation, and even cash subsidies.

The San Francisco Chronicle found in an interview that some students and supporters received messages that explicitly promised: going to welcome Xi Jinping could get free transportation, food, and accommodation, and there were also a large number of people concentrated by tourist buses on the scene.

Later, The Washington Post conducted a larger-scale investigation. The newspaper analyzed more than 2,000 photos and videos and interviewed more than 30 witnesses, US officials, and relevant personnel. The investigation found that the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles had paid for hotel and meal expenses for some supporters, and at least 35 pro-Beijing overseas Chinese organizations participated in the welcoming activities for Xi Jinping; at least four Chinese diplomats were photographed on the scene and were in contact with some organizers. Chinese diplomatic personnel were also accused of hiring at least 60 private security guards to protect the welcoming team.

One of the responsible persons of the overseas Chinese organization that participated in the organization even publicly stated that he arranged 20 buses, 400 hotel rooms, and about 800 people to go to San Francisco to welcome Xi Jinping.

This has far exceeded the normal category of "overseas Chinese spontaneously welcoming national leaders".

It presents a fairly mature political mobilization chain:

Embassy/Consulate - Overseas Chinese organization responsible person - WeChat group - Registration personnel - Unified transportation and accommodation - Unified logo - Unified on-site action.

As for the widely circulated statement that "originally $400 per person, finally only got $100", we have not found sufficient first-hand materials to independently confirm the entire process of "$400 shrinking to $100", so we cannot take it as a confirmed fact. However, in 2023, there was indeed explicit recruitment information for cash subsidies. The WeChat group screenshots obtained by the Epoch Times at that time showed that some recruitment information promised that participants in the welcoming activities could receive $100 per day for three consecutive days, and also included free transportation, accommodation, and meals.

So, the fact that "spending money to organize welcoming crowds" is not unfounded.

The problem is not "how much money per person", but who is manufacturing public opinion

Many people see such messages and first ask jokingly:

"What's the price this year? Still $100 a day?"

But what really deserves to be pursued is not the price.

The real problem is: why does a government need to concentrate people from different cities to the location of the national leader's visit on foreign soil, through the consular system, commercial associations, and overseas Chinese networks, and then create a scene of red flags and cheers?

If someone truly supports Xi Jinping, they of course have the right to stand on the street to welcome Xi Jinping. This is the freedom of expression given to every individual by American society.

But if these "masses" are organized by foreign government agencies, providing air tickets, hotels, meals, and even cash subsidies, then the nature is completely different.

This is no longer just "expressing political stance", but using resources to create a political visual effect

• letting TV cameras, official media, and domestic audiences see:

"Overseas Chinese enthusiastically welcome Xi Jinping."

Thus, a crowd organized through funding, transportation, and organization chains may be repackaged as so-called "overseas Chinese spontaneous patriotism".

This is the problem.

More seriously: the welcoming team was not just responsible for "welcoming"

The 2023 San Francisco incident also has a background that cannot be ignored.

A large number of people who opposed Xi Jinping, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kong democrats, Chinese dissidents, and human rights activists, also came to the scene to express their protests.

As a result, physical conflicts occurred multiple times.

The Washington Post's investigation believes that although both sides had conflicts, after video verification, the newspaper believes that some of the most serious violent acts were initiated by pro-Beijing personnel, including the use of flag poles, chemical sprays, and fist fights against opponents. The US Congressional-Executive Commission on China later requested the Justice Department to investigate whether these incidents involved Chinese government-supported transnational repression.

This makes the problem go beyond "spending money to ask people to stand on the street".

If the overseas united front network's function is only to arrange a few old people to wave flags, it may just be absurd.

But if the same organizational system also undertakes the functions of welcoming, surrounding, and suppressing dissidents, and even engaging in violent conflicts with protesters, then it involves not just image engineering, but the extension of foreign government power into the public space of democratic societies.

Why does "spontaneous welcome" always need embassies, consulates, and overseas Chinese organizations?

The CCP has long emphasized the support of overseas Chinese for the so-called "motherland".

But genuine public opinion has a basic characteristic: it doesn't need mobilization fees.

If a leader has truly widespread and enthusiastic support overseas, when he comes to New York, Washington, or San Francisco, people will naturally go to the airport, hotel, and scene outside to welcome him.

There is no need to report their ID.

There is no need to register uniformly.

There is no need to arrange buses.

And there is no need for free air tickets, free accommodation, and free meals.

Once a so-called "mass welcome" requires a complete funding chain, transportation chain, and organization chain, it actually showcases not the enthusiasm of the masses, but the organizational capabilities.

This is also why such images are especially important in Chinese political communication.

In a system that highly relies on political rituals, the leader's visit must have red flags, must have cheers, must have "overseas Chinese enthusiastically welcoming", because these images are ultimately not just for Americans to see.

The real main audience is domestic.

Diplomatic visits thus also undertake the function of internal political propaganda.

From Beijing to overseas, what is always indispensable is "mass actors"

The CCP's political culture has long placed high importance on "scene".

Leaders' inspections need mass welcomes;

Important meetings need applause;

Disaster area inspections need gratitude;

Diplomatic visits need overseas Chinese to wave flags.

The real problem is not whether these people have the right to support Xi Jinping, but whether the state machine is using funding and organizational systems to turn political loyalty into a product that can be purchased, arranged, and displayed.

If the recruitment information circulating before Xi Jinping's visit to the United States in September is finally further confirmed, it will indicate that the practices in San Francisco in 2023 are not just a one-time occurrence, but may have become a replicable overseas political mobilization mechanism.

At that time, what the public really needs to ask is not:

"How much money is it to welcome Xi Jinping per day?"

But should ask:

Who is paying the money? Where does the money come from? Which overseas Chinese organizations are responsible for the organization? What role does the Chinese Embassy/Consulate play? Do participants receive remuneration? Are these activities legally declared?

If American society only sees a sea of five-star red flags without knowing that there are air tickets, hotels, buses, WeChat groups, and organizers behind the red flags, then what they see is just an edited political stage.

And for the news media, what really should be tracked is the hand behind the stage.

Focus on the Chinese perspective: overseas Chinese supporting or opposing whoever is individual freedom; but if a foreign government funds and organizes masses, manipulates overseas Chinese organizations, and creates political momentum, and even lets these organizations intervene in the suppression and conflict of dissidents, then this is not just an ordinary overseas Chinese community activity, but a foreign political influence network that deserves continuous investigation by US law enforcement agencies, Congress, and media.

This time, if Xi Jinping's visit to the United States really appears with large-scale "spontaneous welcomes" again, the media might as well take fewer pictures of the red flags and ask one more question:

How did these people come, and who paid the money?

Because the answer may be more worth reporting than the welcoming scene itself.