Hundreds of protesters marched, waved signs and flags and occasionally scuffled Wednesday in San Francisco where President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping were attending an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit of world leaders after holding talks down the road at a Woodside estate.
Demonstrators waving Tibetan flags marched midday down Market Street chanting “Free Tibet” and criticizing the Chinese Communist Party and Xi, its leader. There were repeated incidents of pushing and shoving between critics and supporters of China as police separated the groups.
“The United States is a country that believes in human rights,” said demonstrator Penpa Dhundup, 50, of Berkeley, who was draped in a gold, red and blue Tibetan flag and wore a “Save Tibet” headband. “How can they welcome a Communist Party who takes away everything which the United States is based on?”
Earlier in the morning, police in riot gear pushed up against a crowd of demonstrators representing workers’ rights, environmental and other causes trying to prevent attendees from entering the conference at nearby Moscone Center.
“The goal is to try to shut down meetings,” said Donna Denina, of Seattle, one of the No to APEC protest organizers. “There’s a lot of collusion between government and corporate interests, not in line with working people. We don’t have a seat at the table. They shouldn’t either.”
While protesters jostled attendees making their way into the conference, opponents of the gathering did not disrupt any of the meetings inside. San Francisco’s Joint Information Center reported Wednesday that as of mid-afternoon there was just one arrest, around 10:30 a.m., for an aggravated assault in the area of Jessie West and 5th streets. No further details were available. Police also evacuated a mall during the lunch hour because of a person with a suspicious device that turned out to be a cigarette lighter.
“The SFPD and our law enforcement partners have responded to a number of 1st amendment activities throughout the city today,” the JIC said in a statement. “These activities have been mostly peaceful, and we continue to monitor marches and protests that are in progress as well as anticipated events throughout the day.”
The APEC Economic Leaders’ Week, which runs through Friday, is the largest gathering of world leaders in the city since 1945. Along with heads of state from member countries, including Biden and Xi, about 1,200 CEOs and nearly 30,000 delegates from governments and organizations are expected for the event.
On Sunday, more than 3,000 No to APEC protesters rallied with signs and flags at Embarcadero Plaza downtown and up Market Street, demanding everything from rights for Indigenous people, women’s empowerment and LGBTQ equality to a ceasefire in Gaza and pollution controls to lessen the threat of climate change. At one point Sunday, protesters blocked the intersection of Howard and 5th streets near the Moscone Center.
APEC had no comment on the demonstrations.
Biden met with Xi at 11:15 a.m. down the Peninsula from the city at the Filoli estate and gardens in Woodside. Police on Wednesday morning shut off access to Cañada Road leading to the estate. Xi, whose motorcade from San Francisco International Airport was met Tuesday afternoon by some 2,000 protesters and well-wishers with signs that read “End CCP,” “Free Hong Kong” and “Warmly Welcome President Xi Jinping,” had wanted a private meeting with Biden away from the main summit venue. Similar demonstrations lined San Francisco streets and roads to Filoli as Xi headed out for Wednesday’s meeting with Biden. It is Xi’s first U.S. visit since April 2017 and only his second in-person meeting with Biden as U.S. president.
Biden on Tuesday evening attended a San Francisco fundraiser hosted by real estate magnate and political strategist Clint Reilly where he was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom. The president, knocked by unfavorable polling and suggestions that at 80 he’s too old for another term, bragged to some 250 donors who paid up to $250,000 to attend about Democrats’ successes nationally during this month’s elections and the troubles of his presumed Republican opponent.
“The press and pundits can keep being surprised as much as they want,” Biden told the crowd, which included former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg. “But since I came off the sidelines to go toe to toe with Donald Trump, we haven’t stopped winning, and he hasn’t stopped losing.”
Biden held a news conference Wednesday afternoon following his meeting with Xi and was to attend a welcome reception for APEC leaders with Harris at San Francisco’s Exploratorium and other events Thursday and Friday before leaving California.
Newsom participated in an APEC CEO Summit event Wednesday morning.
“APEC is completely inconsiderate of the people who make their profits, and that is the workers,” said protester Yusen Yun, of San Francisco, a nonprofit management consultant, who called it “double-insulting” APEC is in California, “one of the richest states,” where many work for $17 an hour, barely above minimum wage.”
“Who can live on those wages?” Yun asked.
