Common political ideas
This is not Wang's first foray into politics. Under his "Tiantian" penname, Wang has organized protests over Chinese-American issues such as a segment on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! TV show in which a five-year-old said killing all Chinese people could get rid of U.S. debt and in defense of Chinese American NYPD officer Peter Liang who was found guilty of manslaughter after shooting an unarmed black man.
Calling himself a "grass-roots activist," 32-year-old Wang told the Global Times that he supports Trump because he agrees with several of his policies, such as a crackdown on illegal immigration.
"He does not like illegal immigrants. I don't like them either. He said he loves Chinese people, so do I. He does not like Muslims coming to the U.S. … I cannot say I don't love them, but I agree that we'd better stop them from coming before we have proper methods guarding against terrorists," Wang told sina.com.
Many other volunteers for CAFT, including Kimmy Liu, who immigrated to the U.S. seven years ago, and Yu Tao, who has been an American citizen for 18 years, have found that Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric struck a chord with them.
In the past 20 years, Asian voters have generally favored the Democrats. Wang argued that this is because Chinese Americans are relatively poor and hope the Democratic Party will be more generous with welfare. "But it should not be Chinese Americans' American dream. They should try to be entrepreneurs, participate in politics, and join the mainstream in the U.S.," Wang said.
However, according to a 2012 Pew Research Center study of Asian Americans, Chinese American's median full-time wages and median household wealth are actually above the U.S. average, though the poverty rate among Chinese Americans is around 14 percent. The national rate is about 13 percent.
Wang says he supports Trump because he thinks President Trump would be good for the Sino-U.S. relationship. "He is the most suitable one for the mutual benefit of both China and the U.S.," Wang told the Global Times.
Even though Trump has attacked China as having an "unfair advantage" over the U.S. in terms of trade, Wang thinks that Trump targeting China in his campaign is no big deal, because he is "running for U.S. President."
He believes that Trump will be "a friend to China," adding "I cannot see a future for the Sino-U.S. relationship in Hilary Clinton."
Jin Canrong, associate dean of Renmin University's School of International Studies, said Donald Trump is a pragmatic politican, and China is good at dealing with pragmatists, according to a comment published by . There will be fierce rivalry between China and the U.S. once Trump takes the helm, but China doesn't fear competition. What China opposes and dislikes is someone who forcefully applies their own model to others, and Trump is certainly not that kind of politician.
Speaking up for the right
Despite enthusiastic support on the WeChat chat group, Wang knows that CAFT are a minority in their community.
"We are like pandas here. There are so few Chinese Americans like us," Wang shared with the Global Times.
"They are a minority in the U.S., but in recent years, Chinese Americans are more and more active in political affairs, and particularly in states where Chinese are concentrated. All candidates seek support from Chinese Americans," noted Jia Qingguo, an expert in American studies and director of the School of International Studies at Peking University.
Yu Tao describes herself as "a Chinese woman who loves Trump" on her Twitter account, and now she's seeking opportunities to support Trump. "If I post something about Trump and someone challenges me, I will try to persuade them and tell them why Chinese should support Trump and the Republicans," she told sina.com.
Yu said Chinese used to be indifferent to politics and only cared for making money but have now begun to realize that in the U.S., no matter how much money you make, you are still controlled by others if you do not participate in politics.
"We can only rely on politics and hope to make ourselves stronger through legislation, so that Chinese Americans can live better in the U.S.," Wang said.
"In the past, the older generations of Chinese immigrants lived at the bottom of society, so they didn't have a chance to speak out. The new generation of Chinese Americans are well educated and know better how to protect their rights. They have resources and know how to participate in politics. It is natural," Jia told the Global Times.
"The voice of Chinese Americans is rather diverse in U.S. politics. By supporting a certain candidate, the most direct effect is still to change their lives," commented Jia, "It is hard to say to what extent they will affect Sino-U.S. relations. Instead, it might make Americans pay more attention to the U.S. policy toward China and interpret things in terms of ideology, which might not be a good thing."
