San Francisco Clears Homeless Camps in Anticipation of APEC Forum

San Francisco is hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum this week, which will feature a meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. In preparation for the forum, the city cleared out homeless encampments throughout the city. This sudden rush to address the city’s issues sparked a dialogue in the media.

“Threat of Embarrassment”: Noah Rothman (Lean Right bias) outlined the city’s struggles to address its issues with homelessness, crime, and drug addiction, determining, “In the end, all it took for San Francisco to clean up its act was the threat of embarrassment.” Determining that the city already had the resources and abilities to clear out homeless encampments but chose not to, Rothman writes, “The APEC summit demonstrates that the city’s commitment to abdicating its responsibility to its residents is total. That dereliction becomes untenable only when outsiders are in a position to notice the fraying social compact.”

“Rough Patch”: A writer in USA Today (Lean Left bias) stated that the city was going through a “rough patch in recent years” as it struggles with crime, homelessness, and corporate flight. The writer places part of the blame for the city’s struggles on squabbling between Mayor London Breed and the city’s Board of Supervisors. Additionally, the writer stressed other potential problems facing San Francisco as it hosts the conference, notably protestors who “would like nothing better than to be disruptive enough to spark a harsh crackdown by police that would draw global media attention.”