The Xiaohongshu phenomenon: Bridging hearts across the seas

The TikTok case in the United States is a reflection of a world that isn't changing but has changed. Chinese President Xi Jinping's assertion of a strong demand for space, visibility and recognition, stemming from the grassroots and the Global South, deserves serious consideration.

This demand stems not just from the leaders of the Global South, but from their people, who have the right to be heard.

TikTok plans to cease operations in the United States on Sunday, as a federal ban is set to take effect. However, President-elect Donald Trump, whose term begins the day after the ban goes into effect, is considering issuing an executive order to postpone the closure for 60 to 90 days and seek a political solution.

Rumors have circulated for months that some billionaires may try to buy TikTok from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, to save the company from the US ban. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was one of those mentioned, though he is keeping a low profile on the subject.

How should we view this significant inconsistency? No other evidence is required to show that the US government's obsession with TikTok is purely political, with no ties to the platform or its content. The latter is merely used as a pretext to target China.

But there's more to it. Musk's involvement and Trump's expressed determination to find a political solution suggest a shift in the situation. The new American government may have realized that arguing with China over issues that lack strategic significance or where a favorable solution is already evident is counterproductive and futile.

Another factor to consider is TikTok's tremendous success in the United States, which means that Trump has a vested interest in exploiting it to disseminate his narratives and earn significant political benefits.

But there's more. How are TikTok users reacting? They have rushed to another Chinese social networking platform, Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, which has found itself scrambling to hire dozens of English-language content moderators to deal with the influx of new users.

Western media has lost no time characterizing this development as "dangerous" to China. They argue that the rapid rush of international users, many of whom refer to themselves as "TikTok refugees," presents a new problem for the app, which must now balance China's social media restrictions with delivering a positive experience for its non-Chinese-speaking visitors.

The truth is something else. Those who made the decision to switch from TikTok to Xiaohongshu were well aware of their actions: They were searching for a new platform akin to TikTok, hoping to find content that aligned with their familiarity. They were unconcerned about whether or not the new platform would be Chinese.

When American users first started using Xiaohongshu, the majority of them began to post online that they had learned that "Chinese people are not so different from us" and that it provided interesting, original, and diversified information. This was sufficient for the Xiaohongshu craze to spread throughout the United States through word of mouth.

This is a win for the users, who discovered a platform that meets their needs, and it is also a win for China, as the country now has a channel for normal Americans to see what life in China is truly like – without resorting to any form of coercion.

Some final thoughts: China's amazing success can be attributed to the fact that it never attempted to impose Xiaohongshu as the exclusive means of understanding the country. This demonstrates the long-term value of patience and persistence. While we may anticipate numerous slanders claiming that "Chinese spies created the conditions for Xiaohongshu's toxic entry into the US," American users ultimately made their own decision. The sequence of events clearly indicates that this was not a pre-planned operation.

Xiaohongshu is also popular across the Taiwan Strait. Young Taiwanese frequently state that they don't care whether the material is Chinese or English. What matters is that it's engaging, amusing and meets their expectations. Who knows, maybe one day Xiaohongshu may make its way to Europe.

(The author is an independent researcher based in Paris. The views are her own.)