Guess what the Chinese ambassador is 100% correct. I have been to DC plenty of times. I have never been to SE DC/Anacostia.
Back in my liberal days — we all have a past, you know — I did go into SE once, to check out the Earth Day fair in 1991. My White arse was exhibiting some serious situational awareness as I walked down PA Avenue from the Metro stop and across the Anacostia river to the fair. I was wondering if some Black dude in one of the nearby homes would simply shoot me through an open window.
This uncouth Chinese diplomat is undoubtedly correct.
I drove through SE a few months ago as rush hour approached, going north through the city to escape Beltway congestion. I came up a main street to a large intersection where a large old church with big white Greek columns (Baptist, if I recall) had been turned into a mosque. Members of the mosque were distributing leaflets, filtering through the many cars stopped at the intersection. When one of them came near my car, I gestured to the Christ figure on my dashboard and he went on to the next car. Guess I was lucky there were so many people around.