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the accumulation and explosion of long-term, multiple sources of the American people’s anger and frustration over polarized politics, unresponsive government, a weak economy and a weakened middle class, rising tension over social and racial divisions, and a perception of the United States’ failing global leadership.⁹ For another scholar, the election posed unprecedented challenges to the three core components—political, ethno-racial, and global—of American identity.¹⁰ In this sense, the 2016 election was unique in that it had provided the Chinese a rare chance to “evaluate the US system of democracy when watching its general election.”¹¹ What is more, the perceptions of the Chinese about this particular election, and by extension America’s political system, will have far-reaching implications for China’s own democratic process.

Whether it spells disaster for American democracy or marks its renewal, the 2016 election merits special attention from China because it also happens to be held at a critical juncture in the Chinese-US relationship. With China’s rapid rise in national power and global influence, recent developments in the relationship seem to suggest that China and the United States might already be caught up in the so-called Thucydides Trap, as rising tensions over regional issues are driving the two countries toward a collision.¹² Meanwhile, the United States is becoming increasingly wary of China’s growing assertiveness, and has begun to reassess its engagement strategy with China. Some believe that the current debate in the United States will likely produce significant US policy changes toward China.¹³ While election years in the US are known to be a source of instability for China-US relations—issues related to China are frequently convenient targets for presidential candidates—this year’s election and the new administration it produces will most assuredly add unusual uncertainty to an already strained relationship.

In addition to the timing, many pundits and most ordinary Chinese were drawn to the election because of this year’s unconventional candidates and their never-ending scandals. For those Chinese who are already exposed to the fictional dark side of American politics through watching the House of Cards, the drama and ugliness prevalent in the 2016 election were more intriguing, stirring, and even horrifying than fiction.¹⁴ Because of either schadenfreude or a form of pseudo participation, the Chinese seemed to derive more excitement and entertainment out of the election the uglier it became. For example, when Trump and Clinton were at each other’s throats on the debate stage, the Chinese public was glued to the debates, sharing memes and funny videos of the candidates on social media.¹⁵ In other words, the main attraction for a considerable number of Chinese this year comes from the negativity and ugliness of American politics as exposed through the electoral process.

      At this point, there is no doubt China is a most important stakeholder in the 2016 US presidential election, and its elites and citizens alike have reason to be unusually attentive to the election. Now that the question of why has been settled, the next question is how did the Chinese perceive the election, that is, how did they view the major candidates as well as the main issues that relate to China?

       Chinese Views of the Candidates: A Case of Ambivalent Preferences

      Any discussion of Chinese perceptions of the 2016 US presidential election has to begin with China’s views of the candidates. For the Chinese, American elections are always candidate-centered, and the election process is largely driven by a series of events and incidents that involve competition and elimination. In following this year’s election, the Chinese media and other observers focused on the major candidates’ images, rhetoric, and policy positions, while the ordinary Chinese were largely attracted to the candidates’ personality and scandals. The two candidates that have attracted the most attention from the Chinese are, of course, the Democratic standard-bearer Hillary Clinton, and her Republican opponent Donald Trump.

Curiously, however, the Chinese were anticipating a different fight at the beginning of the election, that is, a “dynastic duel” as some experts put it, between Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton.¹⁶ Many Chinese pundits’ jaws dropped when the Republican primary took an unexpected turn and Donald Trump won the GOP nomination. China’s America watchers were equally surprised when Bernie Sanders, originally derided as a fringe candidate, took his fight to the final stage with Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party’s heir apparent. While the populist movement spearheaded by Sanders received much less attention in China than Trump and Clinton, some Chinese scholars tracked the “socialist elements” in Sander’s campaign very closely, and construed them as evidence of the deepening crisis of America’s capitalist system and the revival of socialist ideas in Western countries.¹⁷ For other scholars, an important analogy could be drawn between the rise of Donald Trump and the popularity of Bernie Sanders, as both campaigns displayed strong populist sentiments and shared overlapping electoral bases.¹⁸

       CHINA’S CLINTON COMPLEX

Among all the presidential candidates in 2016, no one was more familiar to the Chinese people than Hillary Clinton was, and no one had more China experience. Either as the First Lady lecturing Beijing on its human rights record or masterminding the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia during her tenure as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has earned a reputation among the Chinese for being tough and assertive. Not surprisingly, as Clinton frequently used her China record to bolster her foreign policy credentials on the campaign trail, the Chinese were highly alert to the prospects of a Clinton presidency.¹⁹ Since most Chinese pundits were betting on a Clinton victory, the focus of attention was on figuring out what kind of China policy Clinton would adopt once she was elected, and whether she would continue to engage China or choose to contain it.²⁰

For quite a few Chinese experts, doing research on Clinton’s personality and political psychology seemed a good starting point. Clinton’s character, according to one scholar, is active/positive, power-oriented, and cognitively flexible, while her value-oriented, rules-based political beliefs would drive her to constrain China if she became president.²¹ Based on an analysis of her personality traits and past behavior, another scholar predicted greater conflicts and more instability between China and the United States under a Clinton presidency.²² Because the candidates are under electoral pressure to fulfill their campaign promises once elected, many Chinese experts focused on Clinton’s campaign rhetoric about China as a useful guide to her future policy.²³ Taking a holistic approach, Chen Dingding argued that a Clinton presidency would likely present more challenges to China-US relations because of the convergence of three factors: Clinton’s past attitudes toward China, her identification with the Democratic Party, and increasing tensions between the two countries.²⁴ Despite widely shared skepticism and caution between the Chinese about Clinton’s potential policy, some experts were more optimistic as they pointed to the “rational and sensible” elements of Clinton’s foreign policy and contended that there would be continued

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