In Queens’ Flushing, residents greeted the Trump-Xi summit with mixed hopes and concerns over China, Taiwan, and freedoms, alongside lingering anti-Asian worries.
New York’s Flushing neighborhood in Queens is buzzing with the kind of excitement that rarely makes it into official Washington transcripts: among Chinese residents and others from across Asia. this week’s Trump-Xi summit has become a live topic at street-level businesses. dining tables. and family conversations.
Mandarin is the language you hear most clearly along the markets and shops on the main thoroughfares in Flushing. a longtime hub for Asian communities.. Even some Vietnamese and Malaysian residents. people in the area said. lean toward the Chinese dialect rather than English when they’re shopping or chatting.
For many, the U.S.. president’s visit to Beijing is not just a headline.. One man. who has lived in Queens for 34 years. told CBS News he believes a strong United States and a strong China can benefit everyone.. Born in China and now an American citizen in his 70s. he recalled a period when China appeared more open to the West and said he hopes for closer ties between Washington and Beijing.
He was not fazed, at least outwardly, by the obstacles that hang over the relationship. Chief among them, he pointed to the Iran war, friction around Taiwan, and the tariffs and trade that have weighed on economic relations.
Taiwan, in particular, came through in the conversations as a defining emotional fault line. Several Taiwanese residents in Flushing, speaking to CBS News, said they felt strongly about Taiwanese independence.
“China and Taiwan have nothing in common,” said a Taiwanese-born man who was eating hot pot outside in the sun.
Not everyone who spoke to CBS News wanted to weigh in directly on President Xi or his leadership. Many of the Chinese-born residents who were interviewed declined to comment on Xi’s views and prospects.
Still, voices from outside mainland politics offered a different kind of concern.. A man born in Hong Kong said he hopes Xi will allow more freedoms in the future for people in mainland China. where his older sister lives.. He also said he worries about the future of freedoms in Hong Kong itself. after China took back control of the island.
Despite political divides, some residents spoke with a practical realism that extended beyond the summit. Asked whether the meeting should go well, one person said: “We all [have to] live [together] on earth.”
For those in the neighborhood. the summit is also running alongside another set of fears that has lingered in the United States.. When asked how Trump policies were affecting their community, most people interviewed declined to comment.. Some recalled the anti-Asian sentiment that flared after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. when reports of hate crimes targeting Asians spiked. according to FBI data.
Even as the numbers have come down from their 2023 peak, they said, the toll remains higher than before the pandemic. More than 300 reported attacks on Asians in the U.S. last year, according to FBI data, continued to shape how many residents think about safety and belonging.
Others focused more on day-to-day life than geopolitics.. One man born in Malaysia said he sometimes feels disrespected as an Asian person living in the United States.. By contrast. a woman born in China who now sells nuts at a snack stand said the standard of living in the U.S.. is high, and that conditions for people in China are improving.
“I think the U.S-China relationship is also getting better,” she said.
In Flushing. where politics is often discussed in the same places people shop and eat. the Trump-Xi summit has become a kind of referendum on multiple questions at once: whether rapprochement is possible. what it might cost for Taiwan’s future. and what freedoms may look like for people watching events unfold from abroad.
Trump Xi summit Flushing Queens U.S.-China relations Taiwan independence anti-Asian sentiment Hong Kong freedoms
why are we even asking people in queens what they think about foreign policy lol
My aunt lives near Flushing and she said nobody there is actually happy about this summit, the article is making it seem more positive than it is. People are scared not excited, theres a big difference and I wish reporters would actually talk to regular people instead of just whoever agrees to be on camera.
ok so wait Trump went to Beijing?? when did that happen I thought he said he wasnt going to meet with Xi at all after the whole tariff thing. my buddy told me the summit was cancelled and now im seeing this article saying it happened so im confused. either way I dont trust either of them to actually get anything done, last time they met nothing changed and prices still went up on everything I buy at walmart so what does it even matter what they talk about. people in flushing are worried about taiwan which I get but also like what are regular people supposed to do about any of this honestly.
This is literally just about Chinese people deciding American foreign policy now. no offense but maybe the people actually born here should have more of a say. also the Iran war comment in the article was weird, we are not at war with Iran someone should fact check this stuff before publishing.