The logo for Xiaohongshu on an iPhone in Shanghai, China. The interactions on the app, while mostly on everyday topics, were remarkable for opening a rare portal of open communication between citizens of the world’s largest economies. — Bloomberg
President Xi Jinping has touted people exchanges as the foundation of healthy US ties. A flood of TikTok “refugees” to Chinese app Xiaohongshu may test his limit for such unscripted interactions.
After the US Supreme Court signaled it was likely to uphold a law banning the popular TikTok social media app, a reported 700,000 new users flooded onto a platform previously little-known overseas. Their embrace of another Chinese destination represented an act of rebellion: The US government claims TikTok’s origins give it ties to the government in Beijing that endanger national security.
