Yelling at the Clouds

Where you were on the nights Donald Trump got elected are a special kind of memory we all get to share. Both nights are defining moments in American history, moments our ancestors will look back upon, analyze, debate, and write AP US History essays on. The first time this happened I was a freshman in college at UC Berkeley. On midnight of election night, after it was clear Donald Trump won despite not securing the popular vote, there was a collective scream on campus. It was planned through Facebook. For about 10 minutes at midnight, the only thing you could hear were shrieks of agony as we all settled into the first four years.

This year, 2024, I was in a very different situation. I was on a business trip, in China, representing the billionaire that helped get Donald Trump elected. It was 6pm in Shenzhen when he officially crossed 270 electoral votes, and the popular vote was clearly in his favor.

‘Who did you vote for?’, one of my Chinese colleagues asked me.

Internally, I was a taken aback by the question. I had just met this person a few minutes ago – they were giving me a tour of a factory. It felt awfully personal to share such information with someone you just met, especially someone who lives in such a different frame of reference than you. I still answered without hesitation. She agreed with my selection. Even though I was halfway around the world in a communist semi-dictatorship, the US election was constantly thrust in front of me – on TV, in side conversations, in main conversations. The Chinese were very educated about and invested in the US election.

Many Chinese are concerned with another Donald Trump presidency, mostly because of tariffs. They are worried tariffs will hinder trade between the two nations and slow down China’s economy. Everyone I asked – co workers based in China, colleagues from other companies, random business owners in Shanghai – said they would prefer a Harris presidency, as she is more predictable.

I started thinking about this more, and wondered what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) thought of all this. And the more I thought about it, the more I started to think that maybe a Trump presidency is actually exactly what they wanted.

China is a very different place from the US, obviously. But the thing that stuck out to me was how quickly they can get shit done in their country. Somehow, the CCP is so incredibly capable of wielding their population to work, build, and grow their nation. Their speed is evident just when you visit Shenzhen – a metropolis less than 25 miles from Hong Kong. It has a subway system that comes every 5 minutes, high speed rail connections to every corner of the nation, and an explosion of neighborhoods, parks, and restaurants. Oh, and also – Shenzhen did not exist 50 years ago. In 1980, Shenzhen had a population of 30,000. Today it has a population of 17.5 million.

I especially felt China’s speed as a representative of the EV industry. We like to say China is far behind, that the Western world is far ahead and more capable than Asia. We are wrong. There are 400 EV companies in China, all making compelling and unique product lines. I must have seen at least 60 different brands driving out on the roads myself. Battery swapping, an EV booster’s dream, is just a normal thing there. Every scooter in every major city I went to – electric, not a petrol engine in sight.

Their population has been wielded to innovate and produce certain things – cities, transportation infrastructure, art (don’t even get me started) – and they execute with precision and determination. The moment when Donald Trump re-enters as the leader of the Free World, our progress stalls. And when we stall, we give China another moment to get even closer.

Saying Donald Trump will stall our progress on many fronts might be a controversial statement. After all, Trump ran on the platform of putting America first, bringing back our jobs and our economy! I obviously have no idea what is about to happen to our economy, but I am certain a Trump presidency will burden us technologically. We could try to look at specific policies to have this debate, but I think I want to take a more zoomed out perspective – the average Chinese person doesn’t question climate change. They don’t think becoming more dependent on oil will benefit their society. They don’t write abortion legislation using a book written 2,000 years ago as their guiding principle. They don’t think dismantling their public education system is helpful, and raw milk is not one of the top concerns of their health ministers.

Free, China might not be. However, as we fight over simple truths, forever locked in culture wars and virtue signaling, we get distracted. Uncle Sam cannot wield us to innovate. Instead we stop, and jump backwards. Slipping as we take leaps, we become more self absorbed in ourselves, our problems, our outrage. And while we squabble, China continues to roar its engine and work, focused on what it wants. 1.4 billion people, all being wielded; the tortoise, catching the arrogant rabbit.