Why don't Chinese-Americans vote Republican?

[GregTheGreat657]

Please don't try to pin this completely on "GOP racism". Is it educational differences? Is it that they are more socially liberal than other races in general? The reason I have a hard time understanding this, is that most Chinese-Americans' families have not been in the US since before China became a communist country, while other nationalities fleeing from communism tend to vote GOP.

[OBD]

Because we're sane.

[Born to Slay. Forced to Work.]

Please don't try to pin this completely on "GOP racism". Is it educational differences? Is it that they are more socially liberal than other races in general? The reason I have a hard time understanding this, is that most Chinese-Americans' families have not been in the US since before China became a communist country, while other nationalities fleeing from communism tend to vote GOP.

If you know the answer then why ask the question

[Biden his time]

The GOP would sweep every election if it weren't for "GOP Racism"

[Bismarck]

Chinese Americans by and large live in large left wing cities. They are demographically similar to the white people who live in these areas. I think it has more to do with perceptions of republicans as being the party of rural white people and especially the perception that republicans are against higher education.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Chinese Americans by and large live in large left wing cities. They are demographically similar to the white people who live in these areas. I think it has more to do with perceptions of republicans as being the party of rural white people and especially the perception that republicans are against higher education.

Education is very esteemed in East Asian culture. It's not surprising that GOP anti-intellectalism would hurt it in the Asian vote.

[SInNYC]

Most mainland Chinese immigrated for economic reasons (better jobs, better colleges for those who weren't top students in China), not to 'escape communism'.  So, their voting patterns resemble those of other educated urban/suburban demographics, untempered by a reflexive hatred of whoever is labeled as socialist like some other immigrant groups.

[Kamala's side hoe]

Most mainland Chinese immigrated for economic reasons (better jobs, better colleges for those who weren't top students in China), not to 'escape communism'.  So, their voting patterns resemble those of other educated urban/suburban demographics, untempered by a reflexive hatred of whoever is labeled as socialist like some other immigrant groups.

There is definitely a right-wing, anti-“socialism” streak among post-Cold War mainland Chinese immigrants that in my experience doesn’t exist as much among Taiwanese or Hong Kongers. But I agree with the OP that Chinese Americans are more secular and less likely to be “lower middle class” than other East/Southeast Asian groups, and are a worse demographic fit for the W-45 GOP in that respect.

[Brittain33]

"Kung flu", and then defending Trump saying "Kung flu" like it's not racist, doesn't help.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

"Kung flu", and then defending Trump saying "Kung flu" like it's not racist, doesn't help.

How many votes would that have actually moved?

[ChineseConservative]

 I have spent 20 years in the Asian heavy county of Fairfax and being Chinese myself I will try to answer this. Asians on the macro level aren’t that different from blacks/hispanics in how they feel that American society is biased against them. Blacks/Hispanics will often point out how they achieve lower socioeconomic outcomes and endure negative societal perceptions in crime and stereotyping, similarly a lot of Chinese Americans feel that despite having superior educational attainment and work ethic they are being passed over for job promotions and career advancement via the “bamboo ceiling” and having been labeled the “model minority”. Fundamentally, Asians like other minorities feel strongly that the standard American cultural system is rigged against them and by extension an indictment on the status quo policy of the Republican party.

[Non Swing Voter]

Beyond GOP racism, which is obvious, aren't they just against GOP stupidity.  Like mask wearing for instance.  Why would a Chinese-American (or any other immigrant for that matter) vote for a party that is actively undermining mask wearing and vaccines?  Why would the GOP's evangelical policies be appealing to them either?  Also, the GOP's brand of individualism at all costs (as seen in the covid crisis) is not appealing to people who have experienced other cultures that look after the entire community.

[Crumpets]

It might be interesting to see some numbers of how Chinese-Americans voted against what year their family came to the US. I'd guess there'd be a pretty strong correlation of longer ago->more Democrat, more recently->more Republican. But that's pure speculation on my part.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Chinese Americans by and large live in large left wing cities.

This is the case in Great Britain as well. The usual estimates are that roughly half don't vote and of those that do, nearly all vote Conservative.

[Kamala's side hoe]

It might be interesting to see some numbers of how Chinese-Americans voted against what year their family came to the US. I'd guess there'd be a pretty strong correlation of longer ago->more Democrat, more recently->more Republican. But that's pure speculation on my part.

The pre-1965 immigrant wave makes up a very tiny percentage of the current Chinese American electorate. But yeah, I’m curious what if any differences there are among different linguistic subgroups and jurisdictions.

I suspect the biggest differences are among birth cohorts rather than time of arrival in the US, since people born after 1990 seem almost uniformly D/anti-45/culturally left-of-center to me (although this by no means makes us a monolithically pro-Biden or pro-D group).

[H. Ross Peron]

"Kung flu", and then defending Trump saying "Kung flu" like it's not racist, doesn't help.

Chinese Americans were majority Democrat pre Trump. "Kung flu" was essentially the Devil outraging the choir. I doubt anybody who voted for Trump changed his or her vote because it.

Two factors are 1) low income Chinese immigrants voting Democrat due to dependence on social welfare programs and 2) second generation or beyond Chinese Americans assimilating overclass liberal views due to largely attending blue metro public schools followed by universities.

[Schiff for Senate]

Because Chinese-Americans (and for that matter, Indian-Americans as well) are highly intelligent and live in some of the richest and most intelligent areas in the country (such as the Bay Area). Why would they support the anti-intellectual party that still denies climate change and questions evolution, which worships Donald Trump (who repeatedly calls COVID19 the 'China virus'), and whose voter base is uneducated, gun- and religion-obssesed white folk in rural areas?

[Biden his time]

Because Chinese-Americans (and for that matter, Indian-Americans as well) are highly intelligent and live in some of the richest and most intelligent areas in the country (such as the Bay Area). Why would they support the anti-intellectual party that still denies climate change and questions evolution, which worships Donald Trump (who repeatedly calls COVID19 the 'China virus'), and whose voter base is uneducated, gun- and religion-obssesed white folk in rural areas?

Image Link

I don't quite disagree but its still lol

[TJ in Oregon]

"Kung flu", and then defending Trump saying "Kung flu" like it's not racist, doesn't help.

Chinese Americans were majority Democrat pre Trump. "Kung flu" was essentially the Devil outraging the choir. I doubt anybody who voted for Trump changed his or her vote because it.

Two factors are 1) low income Chinese immigrants voting Democrat due to dependence on social welfare programs and 2) second generation or beyond Chinese Americans assimilating overclass liberal views due to largely attending blue metro public schools followed by universities.

Bizarrely I actually do know a Chinese-American Republican who voted for Biden because of Trump's "Chinavirus" comments. He's not happy at all with Biden but doesn't regret his decision.

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Chinese Americans by and large live in large left wing cities.

This is the case in Great Britain as well. The usual estimates are that roughly half don't vote and of those that do, nearly all vote Conservative.

The American urban-rural divide is far stronger than the British urban-rural divide with democrats getting strong support from all echelons of urban residents. Wall Street workers probably vote roughly 70-30 democrat, Maybe 2 City Bankers in London vote labour.

There is a common counter-narrative on atlas that minorities don't care about immigration policy, while most of them are not single-issue immigration voters they care far more about it than the average american. They live in communites with a lot of people with uncertain immigration status and prefer the democratic approach on the issue.

[Crumpets]

It might be interesting to see some numbers of how Chinese-Americans voted against what year their family came to the US. I'd guess there'd be a pretty strong correlation of longer ago->more Democrat, more recently->more Republican. But that's pure speculation on my part.

The pre-1965 immigrant wave makes up a very tiny percentage of the current Chinese American electorate. But yeah, I’m curious what if any differences there are among different linguistic subgroups and jurisdictions.

I'd love to see someone do a study of the politics of each Chinese province's immigrants to the US and try to infer what a potential Biden vs. Trump map in a hypothetical election in China would look like as a result. It'd be bunk, sure, but I'd still read it.

[Continential]

Beyond GOP racism, which is obvious
[...]
Also, the GOP's brand of individualism at all costs (as seen in the covid crisis) is not appealing to people who have experienced other cultures that look after the entire community.

Immigrants can be racist towards people and GOP racism is largely directed to black and  Hispanic people and from what I've seen, a decent amount of Asians are racist towards blacks and Latinos. Of course, this could be from my personal experiences and completely wrong from a larger scale.

In the Indian-American community, while this doesn't relate to the Chinese-American community, people love the way the police are in America compared to the police are in India, and in 2020, some of them voted Trump because "law and order" was a issue that election and they didn't like the anti-police sentiment.

[Kamala's side hoe]

It might be interesting to see some numbers of how Chinese-Americans voted against what year their family came to the US. I'd guess there'd be a pretty strong correlation of longer ago->more Democrat, more recently->more Republican. But that's pure speculation on my part.

The pre-1965 immigrant wave makes up a very tiny percentage of the current Chinese American electorate. But yeah, I’m curious what if any differences there are among different linguistic subgroups and jurisdictions.

I'd love to see someone do a study of the politics of each Chinese province's immigrants to the US and try to infer what a potential Biden vs. Trump map in a hypothetical election in China would look like as a result. It'd be bunk, sure, but I'd still read it.

Yeah I highly doubt Chinese immigrants and their descendants are in any way politically representative of the PRC citizenry at large. But there does seem to be some polarization within contemporary China between a more liberal/cosmopolitan "Right" and a more Maoist/parochial "Left" that is somewhat analogous to the D-voting big cities vs R-voting hinterlands cleavage we see in the US. (source)

In the Indian-American community, while this doesn't relate to the Chinese-American community, people love the way the police are in America compared to the police are in India, and in 2020, some of them voted Trump because "law and order" was a issue that election and they didn't like the anti-police sentiment.

Yeah I've heard horror stories about the police in India.

A lot of moderate to conservative non-whites liked Obama and voted for him twice. And they likely voted for Clinton as well, but they didn't like what they saw on the streets of America this summer.

I know in the Indian-American community, one of the things people really like about America is the rule of law and that everyone follows the rules. I appreciate it myself when I see how things are in India. I doubt they will be big fans of defunding the police. They like a strong police presence. My dad always votes for the Democrats but I'm pretty sure he voted for Trump although he won't say it. He voted Republican all the way down ballot.

[Non Swing Voter]

Beyond GOP racism, which is obvious
[...]
Also, the GOP's brand of individualism at all costs (as seen in the covid crisis) is not appealing to people who have experienced other cultures that look after the entire community.

Immigrants can be racist towards people and GOP racism is largely directed to black and  Hispanic people and from what I've seen, a decent amount of Asians are racist towards blacks and Latinos. Of course, this could be from my personal experiences and completely wrong from a larger scale.

In the Indian-American community, while this doesn't relate to the Chinese-American community, people love the way the police are in America compared to the police are in India, and in 2020, some of them voted Trump because "law and order" was a issue that election and they didn't like the anti-police sentiment.

I would have agreed with this a few years ago but since covid the GOP's racism seems much more focused on asians than hispanics now. 

[Хahar 🤔]

Most mainland Chinese immigrated for economic reasons (better jobs, better colleges for those who weren't top students in China), not to 'escape communism'.  So, their voting patterns resemble those of other educated urban/suburban demographics, untempered by a reflexive hatred of whoever is labeled as socialist like some other immigrant groups.

This is the answer in this thread that gets to the point; everything else is peripheral or unrelated. The thread seems to be based on the misconception that Chinese-Americans are "fleeing from communism" when in fact the Chinese who fled from communism did so seventy-five years ago and went to Hong Kong or Taiwan. There is some tradition of Chinese involvement in Republican politics in some pockets of Southern California (the San Gabriel Valley and portions of Orange County), but given that we're talking about Republicans in suburban Southern California it's no surprise that that's fading. Everywhere without such a tradition, Chinese vote the way that other immigrants do and for the same reasons.

In the Indian-American community, while this doesn't relate to the Chinese-American community, people love the way the police are in America compared to the police are in India, and in 2020, some of them voted Trump because "law and order" was a issue that election and they didn't like the anti-police sentiment.

I know that every thread on this board becomes about Indians because this forum is full of Indian teens, and I'm loath to participate in this threadjacking, but I feel like I need to point out that the plural of anecdote is not data and that I have anecdotal evidence of my own in the other direction. I have heard many Indian friends of mine complain over the past half-decade that their parents are "too woke" now, not because my friends disagree with their parents but because it's exhausting to have to be talking about social justice issues all the time. I know that my own parents, who were always reflexively pro-police in an unthinking way, have had their view turned to hostility by constant images of police murder.