san francisco mayor London Breed returned to the city on Sunday after spending a week in China in efforts to advance economic and cultural ties with the region despite the ongoing crises in her home country.
According to Breed’s office, the mayor traveled to China for a week-long multi-city visit that included meetings with government, business and airline officials. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Ambassador to the US Xi Feng had invited Breed to the country during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit held in San Francisco last year.
Before the trip, Breed told the local NBC station that one of his goals was to bring back pandas for the San Francisco Zoo, build stronger ties with Chinese officials, boost tourism and keep San Francisco businesses on the radar.
“We think with increased flights, business opportunities, Panda, the economic opportunities for San Francisco will be significant,” he said during a press conference.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed returned from his trip to China that included offers for airlines to bring more flights to SFO and pursue some giant panda diplomacy. (KTVU)
At home, the breed’s constituents face problems beyond zoo exhibits.
“Mayor London Breed’s decision fly to china California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones told Fox News Digital, “Chasing the pandas when his city is struggling with rising crime and homelessness is an outrageous evasion of their responsibilities to ensure the safety of San Francisco residents. “
“His misplaced focus on photo ops abroad only highlights his blatant disregard for the immediate needs of those suffering in his own backyard.”
“His misplaced focus on photo ops abroad only highlights his blatant disregard for the immediate needs of those suffering in his own backyard.”
“If you asked thousands of people in San Francisco what the city’s biggest problem is, not one of them would say there aren’t pandas in the zoo. They’d say they’re tired of rising crime, fed up of rising homelessness. “I’m fed up with a broken government that ignores the city’s problems,” Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher told Fox News Digital.
“Instead of increasing public relations for the Chinese Communist Party, Mayor Breed should focus on fixing San Francisco’s death cycle.”
Earlier this year, San Francisco officials claimed that the city’s crime rate was “lower than any period in the past ten years” except 2020.
In most categories, crimes reported to police in San Francisco declined in 2023 compared to 2022, but not as much as the rest of the country. FBI statistics show. In 2023, the city recorded 50,744 crimes across all categories. In 2022, 54,649 crimes were recorded in San Francisco, a 7.2% decrease year-over-year.
However, robberies increased by 14.8% in 2023 compared to the previous year, and motor vehicle thefts increased by 6.3% from 2022. So far this year, 11,077 crimes have been recorded in the city, down 29.7% from the same period in 2022.
Mayor London Breed returned to San Francisco after spending time in China with a plan to bring pandas to the city. (KTVU)
San Francisco International Airport spokesman Doug Yackel said the mayor’s visit could help boost the city’s economy by generating millions of dollars from airline travel, with the expectation that three China-based airlines will do business at SFO.
“It’s so powerful what it represents not only for our airport but also for local economies,” Yakel told KTVU. “We’re looking at a single flight, and I’m looking at SFO from foreign destinations like China and the U.S. “I’m talking about a daily flight between.” “It could exceed $175 million in annual revenue and total 1,200 jobs in the Bay Area, and that’s just one flight.”
Breed said an estimate for the cost of bringing giant pandas to the city has not yet been determined, but he told KTVU he is confident it will happen.
“We look forward to a pair of pandas, and hopefully will continue to work with them as soon as we are able to mobilize resources, all permitting Wildlife and Conservation Group In Beijing for all the paperwork,” she said.
Jones told Fox News that Digital Breed should send its resources and focus elsewhere.
Protesters blocked the Golden Gate Bridge while San Francisco Mayor London Breed was in China this week to boost tourism and promote San Francisco businesses. (KTVU | Getty Images)
Jones said, “Plus, everyone knows the San Diego Zoo is world famous for its panda exhibits. Mayor Breed should focus on fixing San Francisco instead of competing with San Diego for pandas. ”
“Mayor Breed should focus on fixing San Francisco instead of competing with San Diego on pandas.”
Gloria Chan, communications director for the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, argues that securing the pandas for the zoo will benefit the city.
“Securing the first official residence for the giant panda in San Francisco is a huge win for our city. San Francisco is an international destination and gateway to Asia Pacific. Having the panda here will strengthen our already deep cultural connection and our There will be respect for the Chinese and API heritage that is at the core of San Francisco’s history,” Chan said.
A Professor at UCLA Also shared thoughts on Mayor Breed’s panda diplomacy with Fox News Digital.
Lee Ohanian said, “If Mayor Breed and the Board of Supervisors do not make dramatic changes regarding homelessness, crime, drug abuse, spending, and rebuilding the city by attracting new businesses, San Francisco could soon become the next Detroit. Is.”
According to the city’s 2022 point-in-time calculations Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, There were 7,754 people homeless in San Francisco that year, a 3.5% decrease from the previous year. Of those people, 3,357 were living in shelters, the report said.
In 2023, the city reported 810 deaths due to drug overdose. Of those, 656 were linked to fentanyl. Those numbers were more than double the national average that year, The New York Times reports.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed blasts homeless coalition: City held ‘hostage for decades’
San Francisco Mayor London on race and drug use and homelessness in the California city. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images; Miikka Scafari/Getty Images)
In November, U.S. Attorney Ishmael Ramsey announced that the federal government was providing major resources to assist in the city’s drug-dealing epidemic. A press release states that the “All Hands on Deck” initiative combines federal, state and local resources to increase arrests of street dealers. US Attorney’s Office Federal charges against drug traffickers have also increased, raising the stakes by holding dealers accountable, the release said.
Breed has also faced criticism from several high-profile people.
During TNT’s alternate broadcast of the NBA All-Star Game in February, Charles Barkley took a dig at the city while talking to Basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller.
Barkley asked Miller which he would choose – playing in the cold in Indianapolis, where Miller spent his entire 18-year NBA career, or “living around a bunch of homeless punks in San Francisco.”
Golden State Warriors Star Draymond Green called Barkley “crazy”, and said Barkley was not “welcome” in the city.
In defense of the city, WNBA star Candace Parker said, “We love San Francisco.”
“No, we don’t,” he replied. “You can’t even walk around down there.”
Charles Barkley blasts San Francisco during All-Star Game, calls it a city of ‘homeless punks’
San Francisco Mayor London Breed recently announced budget cuts, killing the city’s proposed reparations office. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
San Francisco-based rapper and restaurateur Chino Yang released a “diss track” calling out Breed for allowing the city to become a “zombie land”.
“London Breed, you ain’t nothing but a clown,” Yang raps in the song “San Francisco Our Home.” “When we really needed you, you were never with us. You turned this great city into a zombie land.” Yang has since apologized for “spreading misinformation about our beloved Mayor London Breed”, suggesting that someone with “connections” to the “top elite” had threatened him and his family. .
Yang said, “I’m just a civilian. So, to my family and my loved ones — my close friends — I want to apologize openly and publicly for my actions and what I said in the video.” According to CBS News.
A worker holds a sign during a rare outdoor meeting of the Board of Supervisors at the UN Plaza in San Francisco on May 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Breed on Tuesday announced plans to enact a curfew in a section of the Tenderloin to help curb crime in the area, the mayor’s office confirmed to KTVU.
The city said that in 2023 local law enforcement agencies made more than 2,000 arrests for drug sales or drug use in the Tenderloin. They also seized over 260 pounds of fentanyl. The city said the work will continue through 2024, with 350 arrests made so far this year Drug sales or drug use.
“Our work around public safety is making a difference, but we have more work to do,” Breed said. “We are not giving up our efforts to make San Francisco a safe and fun city for everyone, and that includes increasing police staffing numbers and giving our local enforcement agencies the resources they need to do their jobs.”
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According to the city, these figures do not include additional federal efforts being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Fox News Digital contacted Mayor London Breed’s office and the San Francisco Police Department for comment.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos, Jeffrey Clark and Luis Casciano contributed to this report.
