Why US elections are losing shine for educated Chinese once drawn to democratic process

Published: 10:00pm, 18 Oct 2024Updated: 1:33am, 19 Oct 2024

The presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris comes at a time of rising geopolitical tensions on multiple fronts. In the fifth of an in-depth series, Sylvie Zhuang examines the shift in Chinese attitudes towards American elections over the decades.

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United States presidential elections and their representation of the American dream have long intrigued Mandy Huang, a Beijing-based finance worker in her 40s.

Her favourable view of the US political system continued as she worked in Beijing as an investment banker, keeping a close personal and professional eye on American political races and watching for potential implications for Chinese macroeconomics.

“I started following the US elections in the Clinton era. Back then it was like some sort of halo and I saw American capitalism was all about freedom and such,” she said. “But now I pretty much see it as the system … exploiting the world, and making the world pay for it.”

The sheen of US politics dimmed for Huang from around 2019 following then-president Donald Trump’s aggressive policies against China and his “America first” approach to international affairs.

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Huang is among a sizeable group of educated Chinese who have had a significant shift in perception towards US presidential elections, and America’s political system as a whole.

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