- Title: PERSONAL: American influencer on Chinese social media welcomes 'TikTok refugees'
- Date: 15th January 2025
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMERICAN SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER IN CHINA, PAUL ASHTON, SAYING: "You know, when I hear about the ban of TikTok, I think of it mostly as kind of a political move, more than it is anything else. The impression that I get is very much (that) the U.S. for a very long time has been threatened by the growing influence of China globally. But I think this is
- Embargoed: 29th January 2025 17:26
- Keywords: ban biden china red book red note tik tok tiktok trump usa xhs xiaohongshu
- Location: SHANGHAI, CHINA
- City: SHANGHAI, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Social Media
- Reuters ID: LVA001338915012025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: American netizens, or internet users, are flocking to social media app RedNote ahead of the U.S. TikTok ban on Sunday (January 19).
But for American influencer Paul Ashton, Chinese social media is familiar territory where he has amassed billions of views on his short form video content, and coined one of China's digital buzzwords of 2024.
Ashton, otherwise known by his online moniker Baobaoxiong, participated in a traditional clothing photo and video shoot on Wednesday (January 15) while dressed as the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci. Ashton similarly sees himself as a figure of cross-cultural exchange, and is excited at the influx of Americans on RedNote.
"I'm not sure how many of the new users will actually stick around and hang out. But I hope that they do. I think that would be a really important shift in cultural exchange that, for the first time in a long time, puts the ball in China's court a little bit more," Ashton said.
RedNote is best known in China by its Chinese name Xiaohongshu and as a platform to find lifestyle recommendations on areas from beauty to food, the app has in recent days been transformed into an unexpected bilateral channel for U.S.-China exchanges.
Chinese users on Wednesday posted selfies and messages saying "welcome TikTok refugees", and responded eagerly to questions from U.S. users on topics such as popular Chinese dishes, city tourist sights and even China's birth policies.
The influx of more than 700,000 new users has been driven by a looming U.S. ban on TikTok, used by 170 million Americans, on national security concerns.
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