What Do Chinese People Think Of The U.S. President-Elect? | The Odyssey Online
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Politics and Activism

What Do Chinese People Think Of The U.S. President-Elect?

"For better or worse, we should never lose hope for a better future."

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What Do Chinese People Think Of The U.S. President-Elect?
Jia Guo, 2016

This past week, America selected its 45th president, a businessman who was regarded by many as a racist and widely criticized due to his inappropriate remarks towards women and immigrants. When the election outcome came out late Tuesday night, the whole country was suddenly slipped into a mourning but resilient mode. Many people (not necessarily Hillary supporters) expressed their anger towards the outcome and said they felt frightened about America’s future, under the governance of a man who called women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals” and claimed to ban Muslims entering the country.

On a global level, Trump didn't win that much favor following the scandal of the "Access Hollywood" tape, among many other things. When Trump announced his presidential bid in June in 2015, he was regarded as a “clown” by China’s state media. Now that Trump is president-elect, the state-run Xinhua said that Trump’s victory “sent a clear signal that the U.S. political system is faltering.”

During the campaign trial, Trump fired some blistering words towards China, labeling the country a currency manipulator and declaring that “we already have a trade war” against the country. While Trump and his supporters viewed the trade practices with China as “unfair,” it was possible that Trump could aim for higher tariffs on a lot of goods sold by China to the U.S. If that happens, China might retaliate by decreasing exports on Boeing aircrafts or cars made in the U.S.

Many U.S. media outlets didn't favor a Trump presidency. CNN’s anchor Wolf Blitzer, for example, received Tweets, asking him to “desperately resuscitate the Clinton corpse.” He said “If Hillary Clinton has conceded, that is dramatic" live on air after hearing the outcome. I went to Chinese social media sites to see what the Chinese netizens were thinking about this election. Compared to the sentiment in the U.S., many Chinese netizens didn’t express that much of aversion to the election outcome. In the meantime, a portion of Ivanka Trump’s campaign speech for her father went viral on Chinese social media platform WeChat and many expressed their admiration towards Trump because he educated very excellent children. In one of the most circulated articles on WeChat, the author wrote, "Ivanka’s speech can be used to write textbooks."

“Ivanka Trump started working for the family business since 2005 and became the Executive Vice President of Development & Acquisitions at her father's company, the Trump Organization, one year after. Everyday, she flew to attend business meetings and as a result, only slept for 4 hours. Unlike other girls whose conversationwas around luxury brands, Ivanka liked to talk about business opportunities and the books that she read.”

“Hardly could people see the trace of being spoiled from Ivanka. 30% of her success came from her family, but 70% of her success came from her own hardworking.”

In the meantime, the phrase “Trump’s granddaughter recited Chinese traditional poem” surfaced on Weibo.

The title of an article published by Sino News reads “Donald Trump’s granddaughter reciting Chinese poem. We are amazed.”


The 2016 U.S. presidential election came to an end. Donald Trump successfully became the president-elect. While many people claimed that his campaign language made him look like a fourth-grader, his five children and grandchildren had all achieved great success academically. Ivanka Trump also shared a video clip of daughter Arabella singing in Chinese. Check out her Chinese skills here.”

On Weibo, hashtag #TrumpWon# has garnered more than 30 million engagements.

#TrumpWon# Here were a few reasons that contributed to Trump’s victory. 1. No one became president after being the Secretary of State. 2. The email scandal hurt Hillary Clinton’s chance to win. 3. Trump is a successful business and a successful father. 4. It seems like the American people were tired of being involved in so many international affairs. 5. Trump’s policy was supported by people in less wealthy areas in the U.S.


#TrumpWon” Trump is a businessman. A businessman knows how to do business. Business is about making money. If a problem can be solved by money, it is not a real problem.


How do you think about Trump’s victory?

I think we have to thank the American people. We have learned something important.

Why did the American politicians, pundits and media who exist in the name of democracy become the avant-garde to go against people’s will?

Why has the concept of political correctness now become something that offended people in the U.S.?

We need to think about these two questions.


I also asked my friends on Weibo regarding their opinions on the election's outcome. Both who are in the media industry in China told me this:

"If Hillary was selected, the US-China relations won’t be that much difference compared to what it is now. Maybe Trump will bring some new opportunities for the relation to develop better."

"I think Hillary and Trump are the same. It's hard to say who is better suited to the job based on personal preference."

For better or worse, we should never lose hope for a better future. After all, a government can only last long if it represents people's will and serves the people well.


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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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