President Xi Jinping has touted people exchanges as the foundation of healthy US ties. A flood of TikTok “refugees” to Chinese app Xiaohongshu may test his limit for such unscripted interactions.

RedNote has been thrust into the limelight after more than half a million TikTok users recently joined the platform in protest against a likely imminent ban on the short video app in the United States.

Americans who have joined RedNote in protest of the U.S. government’s looming ban on TikTok have found new connections across international borders.