“U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen chooses genuine Cantonese delicacies and makes use of chopsticks effectively,” learn one headline from state broadcaster China Central Tv.
Chinese language social media platforms on Friday had been awash with particulars of Yellen’s first meal in China throughout a week-long go to geared toward enhancing U.S.-China ties and addressing what Washington sees as unfair Chinese language commerce practices. Hashtags associated to Yellen’s eating decisions drew nearly 10 million views on Weibo.
The breathless state media protection of her eating decisions or dexterity with chopsticks displays an effort by Beijing to forged Yellen’s go to in a optimistic gentle, particularly to an more and more anti-American Chinese language public. It underlines how Beijing sees Yellen as maybe its greatest hope for enhancing commerce ties with Washington and serving to its personal ailing financial system.
“General, Yellen’s go to to China sends a optimistic sign relating to the financial and commerce relations between the 2 international locations,” the state-run World Occasions concluded in an editorial on Thursday. On Friday, Yellen met with the Guangdong governor, Wang Weizhong, and stated the USA will not be in search of to “decouple” or minimize itself off from the Chinese language financial system.
In a separate assembly with the American Chamber of Commerce, she stated she would communicate to Chinese language officers this week about unfair commerce practices in opposition to U.S. companies. Earlier than the journey, Yellen additionally stated she would elevate her issues that overproduction in China is resulting in a glut of exports, particularly in electrical automobiles and different clear expertise.
Particulars in Chinese language media reviews embody that Yellen ate at a storied restaurant in Guangzhou frequented by the likes of Chinese language modernist author Lu Xun. She was served a menu of greater than a dozen dishes, together with roast goose and barbecued pork, shrimp dumplings, iced candy and bitter pork and egg tarts.
“What she ordered was very consultant of Cantonese dishes,” a staffer on the Tao Tao Ju restaurant advised Guangzhou Each day Information.
Whereas the restaurant had organized a non-public room for Yellen, her staff requested that partitions be taken down so she may eat alongside different patrons, these reviews famous — a element that was confirmed by a Treasury official.
The Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Night Information additionally ran a profile of Yellen’s enthusiasm for meals, together with a Yunnan restaurant she visited final yr the place she ate mushrooms that would have hallucinogenic properties if not cooked correctly. (A mushroom casserole was additionally on the menu at Tao Tao Ju.)
“Official public opinion is quietly altering,” widespread commentator and former journalist Zhang Feng wrote in an essay on WeChat. Zhang famous that the mushy protection of Yellen’s familiarity and appreciation of Chinese language meals — which some commentators attributed to her time in San Francisco — was paying homage to how Chinese language media reported on the visits of overseas leaders up to now.
In 2011, a shock cease at a Beijing eatery by then-Vice President Joe Biden was additionally carefully reported: He ordered noodles, steamed dumplings and chilly appetizers similar to smashed cucumbers.
Nonetheless, years of worsening ties, in addition to official feedback and state media protection demonizing the USA, have had an impression on Chinese language public opinion. Underneath reviews of Yellen’s dinner decisions, web customers ridiculed the protection, asking why there was nothing extra substantial to report on.
“How about as a substitute of focusing a lot on what Yellen eats, you concentrate on how they plan to make issues troublesome for China,” one stated.
Vic Chiang and Pei Lin Wu in Taipei contributed to this report.
