As Donald Trump travels to Beijing for a summit with Xi Jinping, a surge of critical social media posts is appearing across China.. CNN's Erin Burnett reports that Beijing's censors are intentionally allowing this mockery to spread to project national strength and dominance ahead of the high-level meeting.

The strategic release of "paper tiger" narratives

The sudden visibility of anti-American sentiment in China appears to be a calculated geopolitical move rather than a lapse in digital control. According to a Washington Post report based on confidential US intelligence analysis, China is emerging as one of the primary geopolitical beneficiaries of the ongoing conflict in Iran. This shift in the global balance of power is being reflected in the digital sphere , where the perceived decline of American influence is being celebrated.

This trend suggests that Beijing is leveraging its domestic social media platforms to reinforce a narrative of American weakness. By allowing criticisms of the United States to circulate, the Chinese government can signal to its citizens and the world that the era of American hegemony is waning. This digital strategy coincides with the arrival of Donald Trump in Beijing, setting a psychological stage for the two-day summit.

From "lost swagger" to "winning the tariff war"

During a recent segment on CNN's OutFront, Erin Burnett highlighted several specific posts that have been permitted to go viral despite China's famously strict internet controls. One post claimed that "America has lost its swagger" and dismissed the nation as a "paper tiger," while another suggested that the 21st century is more likely to belong to Beijing than to Washington.

The mockery extends directly to the personal leadership of Donald Trump. Burnett read translations of posts that taunted the US president, including messages such as "Trump, you're welcome to visit China and learn from us" and claims that China had already "won the tariff war." These posts are designed to frame the upcoming summit not as a meeting of two superpowers, but as an opportunity for China to demonstrate its superiority.

Shifting loyalties in France, the UK, and Germany

The sentiment being promoted in China appears to find some resonance in broader international polling. A report from the publication Politico, which was cited by China's Global Times, indicates a growing preference for Chinese reliability over American influence in several Western nations. The data suggests that a majority of respondents in both Canada and Germany now believe it is better to depend on China than on the United States.

The trend is also visible in European polling data. According to the Politico report, 38 percent of people in France and 42 percent of people in the UK expressed a similar preference for China. This statistical shift provides the backdrop for the current diplomatic tension, as Beijing uses these global trends to validate its own domestic propaganda.

What Rubio, Bessent, and Hegseth will actually negotiate

While the digital landscape is filled with mockery,the actual diplomatic objectives of the US delegation remain a matter of intense speculation. donald Trump is traveling to Beijing with a significant team, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Although these officials have historically been vocal critics of the Chinese government, the exact nature of their discussions with Xi Jinping is not yet public.

There are several critical unknowns regarding the summit's outcome. While the US intelligence community has flagged the importance of the Iran conflict, Trump has indicated that he does not expect the war in Iran to be a primary topic, preferring to focus on trade.. Furthermore, while China's state-run agency Xinhua reported that Xi Jinping views China-U.S. economic ties as "mutually beneficial," the specific concessions or agreements reached by the trade teams remain unverified.