Chinese President Xi Jinping's Old Pic At US' Golden Gate Bridge Surfaces Online

An old photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping posing at the Golden Gate Bridge in the United States is going viral online. The picture came to light this week as Mr Xi and his US counterpart President Joe Biden met in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The photo shows Mr Xi, visibly younger, smiling with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying shared the photo on X (formerly Twitter). According to her, Joe Biden showed this photo to Mr Xi on his cellphone. 

"Pointing to a photo in his phone with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, President Biden asked President Xi, "Do you know this young man?" "Oh yes," said President Xi, "this was 38 years ago," Ms Chunying captioned the post. 

Take a look below: 

Pointing to a photo in his phone with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, President Biden asked President Xi, “Do you know this young man?” “Oh yes,” said President Xi, “this was 38 years ago.”🌞 pic.twitter.com/r65Em6Z7oS

— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) November 16, 2023

Since being shared, Ms Chunying's post has accumulated more than 1.1 million views and over 7,500 likes. It even garnered various reactions from social media users. 

"I hope China-US relations will improve," commented one user. "Hope for world peace," said another. 

"It's cool. Mutual understand and cooperation of these two powerful leaders is need of time," wrote a third X user. "A better world for all of us starts with these two world leaders," added another. 

Meanwhile, coming back to the summit, Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday had a first in-person meeting in over a year in San Francisco. They met on Thursday at Filoli Estate and were spotted strolling through the gardens on the estate. The two leaders saw several milestones and a few roadblocks as they agreed that turning their backs on each other was "not an option". 

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During their meeting, they agreed to restore high-level military communications. Artificial Intelligence (AI) also figured in the talks. "The leaders affirmed the need to address the risks of advanced AI systems and improve AI safety through US-China government talks," a White House readout said. 

Mr Biden raised concerns about alleged human rights abuses by China in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. The Taiwan issue came up too. After the meeting, Mr Biden even referred to Mr Xi as a "dictator". 

However, there were light moments too. Mr Biden reminded Mr Xi of his wife Peng Liyuan's birthday, adding that it was his birthday too. The embarrassed Chinese president said he had been neck-deep in work and the date had slipped his mind. He thanked the US President for the timely reminder.