Narratives of China-U.S. “People-to-People Friendship” Appear in Clusters to Set the Stage for Xi Jinping’s Visit to the U.S.

On the eve of Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States, Twitter saw a dense stream of narratives praising China-U.S. people-to-people friendship, chiefly the “legendary story” of an American teacher donating money to help combat desertification in Inner Mongolia. Official and related accounts promoted it in sync, and the posts were accused of showing signs of traffic manipulation.