China | China and America

MAGA with Chinese characteristics

Why many in China cheer for Donald Trump, despite his tariffs and team of hawks

An illustration of a black dragon wearing a red hat with white writing on the front against a yellow background.
Illustration: Ben Hickey
|BEIJING

THE INTERNET in China is not a friendly place for admirers of anything American. Fire-breathing nationalists, helped by censors who are quick to stamp out liberal views, rule the roost. Yet as China digests the implications of Donald Trump’s re-election as president, including his threat of huge tariffs on Chinese goods, many netizens see in him something to like. In their own world of economic anxiety and yawning social divides, strands of the MAGA movement seem familiar. China’s nationalists can be surprisingly Trumpian. Some of them are even pro-Trump.

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This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “MAGA with Chinese characteristics”

From the December 14th 2024 edition

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