US President Donald Trump’s claims that China is trying to manipulate elections have triggered concern among Chinese-Americans community leaders and citizens, with some believing they will be targeted as “scapegoats” if midterm election results are deemed unsatisfactory by the White House.
In a fiery prime-time address to the nation on Thursday evening, Trump delivered an unprecedented broadside against China, accusing Beijing of orchestrating the “largest compromise of election data in history” and declaring an end to US complacency in the face of “Chinese interference”.
The speech, which contained sharp domestic warnings ahead of the midterm elections in November, was one of the most confrontational White House addresses of Trump’s second term, directly hitting Beijing while pressing for election integrity changes and defending US military actions.
Annie Guo, who was born in China’s Fujian province and migrated to the US more than two decades ago, said she was worried that the Chinese immigrant community – particularly first-generation migrants – would again be targeted following Trump’s speech.
“The first-generation Chinese immigrants like me are the easy targets because we still have many family ties in China. Whenever Trump didn’t do well in the election, he would need a scapegoat. We are likely going to be the primary target again this time. It is like our original sin,” said Guo, a mother of two living in New York.
“Since Covid-19, we have experienced many waves of hate crimes towards Asian-Americans. I think more will come,” she said.
“But I am still hopeful, because many American people have common sense and know what’s the truth. Just look at [broadcasters] ABC, NBC, CNN: all decided not to air the speech live on primary channels.”
The decision by these major US television networks not to broadcast the speech live drew a rebuke from the president, who has placed unprecedented pressure on American media.
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