US Press Secretary Says ‘China Doesn’t Even Have Decent Toilets’ — Draws on Her Time Living There

From our other sites

The story

Katie Zakaria (41), the new White House press secretary who has been in the job less than a week, said in an interview aired on the 15th that “China doesn’t even have decent toilets.” Drawing on her own experience living in China, she also recalled how back in 2016 there was a widespread view that China would soon overtake the United States. On 5ch, the thread quickly veered away from the substance of her remark and into firsthand accounts of China’s toilet situation, plus plenty of “boomerang” tangents about America’s own problems — homeless people’s sanitation issues and obesity rates — along with a string of jabs at the press secretary’s own background, scattering the discussion in all directions.

New White House Press Secretary: “China doesn’t even have decent toilets”

[AFP=Jiji] Katie Zakaria (41), the White House press secretary who has been in the post for less than a week, said in an interview aired on the 15th that “China doesn’t even have decent toilets.”

Zakaria, who has lived in China, made the remark during an interview with right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec, recalling how back in 2016 there was a widespread belief that China was about to overtake the United States.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

2AnonymousOct 16, 2026 23:34
Hold on, what's the deal with your law license anyway?
18AnonymousOct 16, 2026 23:38
Re: #2
She's a Pepperdine University grad, so that's about par for the course.
25AnonymousOct 16, 2026 23:40
Re: #1
True that.

51AnonymousOct 16, 2026 23:49
Re: #25
I'm gonna have nightmares about using that toilet.
Make it stooop.
238AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:50
Re: #25
Apparently you can even chat with your neighbor while you're on the toilet.
So ☆wonderful☆ and ☆invincible☆ lol
262AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:59
Re: #25
Seriously, and that's actually on the better end for China.
You'll understand once you've been there yourself.
If you don't believe it, go see for yourself.
39AnonymousOct 16, 2026 23:44
I feel the same way about the toilets.
Even in Shanghai, the fancy buildings have toilets you can't flush paper down, weak-pressure showers, cheap window frames, and doors with sketchy locks.
It's such a strange country — they can send people into space and build cutting-edge robots, AI, and EVs, but they just can't make decent low-tech consumer goods.
229AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:46
Re: #39
They even sell counterfeit sanitary napkins over there.
60AnonymousOct 16, 2026 23:52
Forget toilets, America needs to do something about all the drug-addict zombies wandering the streets first.
And hurry up with gun control already — why are over 50,000 people dying from guns every year?
93AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:00
Re: #60
And the off-the-charts obesity too.
68AnonymousOct 16, 2026 23:54
There are so many people living in their cars in America that the ones parked far from any restroom just poop into bags and toss those bags straight in the trash.
No joke, America is the filthiest of all.
77AnonymousOct 16, 2026 23:57
Re: #68
Towable camper trailers are popular there, after all.
The sight of them lined up row after row in dedicated lots is just bizarre.
87AnonymousOct 16, 2026 23:59
This press secretary is apparently 41 — she looks like she'd be popular with the guys.
105AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:03
Re: #87
Wait, is Press Secretary Leavitt still around?
111AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:05
I've been to China, and the thing is, nobody flushes.
Every single toilet I walked into had a mound left behind.
And every lock was broken so the doors wouldn't even close.
What is that about?
118AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:07
Re: #111
Sounds like a place that reeks something fierce.
129AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:14
Toilets matter. A bathroom that's too filthy will haunt your dreams.
150AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:22
Re: #129
I still haven't forgotten it.
The time I was desperate and ended up using the restroom at Hinagu Station in Kumamoto — the one that became famous because of the earthquake.
There was a towering, multicolored mountain of poop piled up in there.
First time I'd ever seen anything like it in my life.
I admit I contributed a small part to it myself.
Hinagu is famous for its delicious chikuwa (fish cake), and for a second I wondered if stuff like that was part of the 'secret ingredient.'
146AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:21
[Update] The newer ones actually have partitions.
153AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:23
American restrooms have huge gaps around the doors too — you end up making eye contact with the next guy in line while you're doing your business.
161AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:25
Re: #153
Isn't that for crime prevention? It's dangerous if you can't see what's going on inside.
164AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:26
She just said the truth, lol


177AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:30
Public restroom

190AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:33
A real photo from China that the authorities deleted almost immediately


191AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:33
Re: #187
They're almost all fake, huh… Only Normans would have genuinely natural blonde hair.
192AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:33
Re: #191
Re: #190
This one's the real deal, lol
197AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:35
Re: #190
Is that a campsite cooking area?
213AnonymousOct 17, 2026 00:42
Re: #190
There's no way this isn't filthy.

Background and Key Points of This Topic

In White House press secretary appointments, remarks made right after taking office sometimes draw outsized attention. The person who made this comment is a different individual from Caroline Leavitt, the long-serving press secretary — which led to confused reactions on the thread like “Wait, is Press Secretary Leavitt still around?” While the remark itself is a personal impression based on Zakaria’s own experience living in China, one could argue it shows a lack of diplomatic tact for someone in an official position to generalize about a foreign country’s sanitation standards. The thread split between posters backing up the claim about China’s toilets with their own firsthand accounts, and others firing back sarcastically by pointing to America’s own social problems — homelessness-related sanitation issues, obesity rates, and the like — asking “is the US really one to talk?” It’s worth noting that the images and personal anecdotes circulating in the thread are hard to verify and don’t constitute primary sources.

※This article is composed of excerpts and summaries from the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “New White House Press Secretary: “China doesn’t even have decent toilets” — based on experience living in China.”

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *