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Video of US military adjusting red carpet for China’s Xi sparks online backlash

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Cite

Chen, A. (2026, September 24). Video of US military adjusting red carpet for China’s Xi sparks online backlash. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3368596/video-us-military-adjusting-red-carpet-chinas-xi-sparks-online-backlash?utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

South China Morning Post · collected 2026-09-24 · by Alyssa Chen

Quick Summary

A video showing US military personnel rapidly preparing a red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival has gone viral, sparking online criticism. The 12-second clip shows service members smoothing out a 30-meter (98 feet) carpet before Xi’s arrival, with comparisons made by some users to how former President Trump treated other world leaders. The ceremonial welcome included military flyovers and honor guards.
Written by AI on 2026-09-24, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on September 24 focused largely on AI regulation amid escalating tensions over advancements in artificial intelligence technology. The meeting aimed to address mutual concerns about the risks associated with rapid AI development but ended with both sides maintaining their positions, despite attempts by China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi to emphasize "equality" and "reciprocity." Chinese state media highlighted the high-level reception Xi received at the White House as a sign of equality between the two nations, while US officials viewed reciprocity more transactionally. This divergence in interpretation has led to skepticism about whether genuine progress was made regarding AI guardrails or broader diplomatic cooperation.

Written for “Xi-Trump Summit Out comes” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 282 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Xi-Trump Summit Out comes
Politics · 283 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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“The articles describe different aspects of the welcoming ceremony: Article A focuses on US military adjusting a red carpet before Xi's arrival, while Article B discusses Trump rolling out a red carpet for Xi at Joint Base Andrews.”
The Latest: China’s Xi to kick off visit to Washington with a rare planeside welcome from Trump Different event
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Hedges 4 of 24 claims Outlet record 59/100
“While both articles discuss Xi Jinping's visit to Washington, Article A focuses on Trump greeting Xi at the tarmac, while Article B covers a separate incident of US military adjusting the red carpet for Xi.”
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“The articles describe different parts of a larger diplomatic visit, with Article A focusing on the setup for Xi's arrival and Article B detailing the state dinner hosted by Trump.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
5
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 5 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
63/100
South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
283
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-24 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Alyssa Chen
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 22 articles by Alyssa Chen →

Topics

B-1 Lancer China Chinese F-16 F-22

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 2× China GPE · 1× Chinese NORP · 1× Hong Lei PERSON · 1× Melania Trump PERSON · 1× Peng Liyuan PERSON · 1× Wang Yi PERSON · 1×

Narrative

12-second clip goes viral, with US commenters drawing comparisons with Trump’s treatment of other world leaders The 12-second clip, which circulated widely on US social media, captured several service members hurriedly smoothing and cleaning the 30-metre (98 feet) carpet moments before Xi emerged from his aircraft.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-24
2026-09-24 · South China Morning Post
Video of US military adjusting red carpet for China’s Xi sparks online backlash · assertive framing

Claims (5 extracted, 0 hedged)

Video of US military adjusting red carpet for China’s Xi sparks online backlash asserted
military → adjust → backlash
12-second clip goes viral, with US commenters drawing comparisons with Trump’s treatment of other world leaders The 12-second clip, which circulated widely on US social media, captured several service members hurriedly smoothing and cleaning the 30-metre (98 feet) carpet moments before Xi emerged from his aircraft. asserted
Xi → go → aircraft
Chinese officials – including Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the ministry’s protocol chief Hong Lei – can be seen watching the operation from the aircraft doorway. asserted
officials → include → doorway
The ceremony included military flyovers by two B-1 Lancer bombers, six F-16 and six F-22 fighters, along with honour guards and a 21-gun salute. asserted
ceremony → include → guards
Trump and first lady Melania Trump were at the foot of the aircraft stairs to greet Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan as they descended. asserted
they → greet → Xi
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