Chinese Internet Reacts to 2020 US Presidential Election

By That's, November 8, 2020

Former Vice President Joe Biden has been projected to win the 2020 US Presidential Election following a close race with President Donald Trump.

The election has been heavily trending on Chinese social media this weekend, with the hashtag ‘US Election’ (#美国大选#) garnering more than 11 billion views on Weibo, as of press time.

One of the biggest topics we’ve seen discussed by Chinese netizens has been what will happen in the following weeks if Trump doesn’t concede the election. “It is already a fact that Biden has won, and not accepting it appears like a stubborn move… Wouldn’t it be a shame for it to be dragged out,” posted one Weibo user on Sunday morning.

But as you may know, the Trump administration is touting a legal strategy in states where they claim voter fraud occurred. One netizen posted a cropped photo of Trump as a laborer in China with the characters ‘准备上访’, meaning ‘preparing to petition’.

Image via Weibo

Image via @寰亚SYHP/Weibo

Assuming the election stands as is, and Biden eventually moves into the White House, netizens have pointed out that Biden appears to be more stable than the current commander-in-chief. One user posted, “This [incoming] president seems more normal, it’s more comfortable dealing with normal people than a mad king.”

Some, however, argued that Biden is “too normal,” whatever that means…

In an effort to console Trump, a writing prompt that uses the name ‘Li Hua’ – a frequently used character name on college entrance exams – has been making the rounds online. The prompt reads, “If you are Li Hua, and your good friend Donald Trump failed in the 2020 US Presidential Election, please write him a consolation letter – around 200 words.”

Meanwhile, some netizens are defending Trump and questioning how voters could prefer Biden. “There’s no way people actually like Biden, right? Everyone who rises to power in the US looks the same to us – the only difference is their strategy. At this moment, I support Trump defending his rights,” wrote one user in a post that received over 2,000 likes.

Others have embraced the president’s refusal to accept defeat, with one user posting the image below and writing: “Resist to the very end!”

“Throwing in the towel is not my style.” Image via @东邪影视/Weibo

Others have shared their disappointment over Trump losing his bid for reelection, with one person posting this photo and a caption that reads, “I’m not happy anymore.”

Image via @士多卑梨_pear/Weibo

As for the future outlook of US-China relations, some netizens expressed that there won’t be much of a change with a new administration, with one user posting, “Regardless of who is the US President, the stand-off between the US and China won’t change, and the US suppression of China’s development also won’t change.”

But hey, Joe Biden and Beijing have more in common than you think. (See post below.)

Image via @李檬萌/Weibo