Mobilising Behind Trump for Democracy
The Case of Hong Kong
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3948976 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Y T Li (0000-0002-4897-3616, UNSW Sydney, corresponding author), Katherine Whitworth (The University of Sydney) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1256-1280 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Geopolitics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14650045.2024.2419464 |
| OpenAlex | W4403748655 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 57 |
This article examines social media posts and uses surveys to determine whether and why pro-democracy individuals in Hong Kong reconcile two seemingly incongruent understandings of democracy – support for Hong Kong’s democratic future in alignment with global democracy and support for Donald Trump, who is often seen to have promoted democratic backsliding. We also examine how Hong Kong-based Trump supporters define global democracy and perceive the legitimacy of storming the Legislative Council (LegCo) in 2019 hong Kong and the US Capitol attack in 2021. Situating in the debate between strategic and ideological aspects of Trump’s support, as well as the complex perceptions of global democracy, our findings suggest that the respondents’ domestic political affiliations are a significant variable in understanding why Hong Kong’s protest sympathisers support Trump and how they define democracy in connection to the fight against China’s authoritarianism, without considering the critiques of Western-based imperial repression, internal colonialism, and democratic/liberal imperialism
Democracy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law
The Left in China
Media, Internet, and Social Movements in Hong Kong
Propaganda, Media, and Nationalism in Mainland China and Hong Kong
The Idea of the West
Solidarity in the Anti-Extradition Bill movement in Hong Kong
Total Mobilization from Below
Citizenship and Social Class
Civil Disobedience
A Theory of Justice
The parasites of language
An Anatomy of Trump’s Appeal to Chinese Liberals
Public diplomacy via Twitter
The Making of ‘Violent’ Hong Kong
Development of the Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Protest into a “New Cold War”
Through the Eyes of U.S. Media
Politics and Change in Singapore and Hong Kong
The Puzzle of Non-Western Democracy
Hong Kong
The Meaning of Democracy in Southeast Asia
The Radicalization of Young Protesters in Hong Kong
The Imperialism of Democracy and Human Rights vs the Democracy and Human Rights of Imperialism
New forms of youth activism – Hong Kong’s Anti-Extradition Bill movement in the local-national-global nexus
Beaconism and the Trumpian Metamorphosis of Chinese Liberal Intellectuals
Violence and democracy in South Africa's community protests
American Punk and the Rhetoric of “Political Correctness”
Race, gender, and Occidentalism in global reactionary discourses
Were They Illegal Rioters or Pro-democracy Protestors? Examining the 2019–20 Hong Kong Protests in China Daily and The New York Times
Conscientious Disobedience of the Law
The Far-Right Threat in the United States
The new cold war and the rise of the 21st‐century infrastructure state
Insurrectionary Populism? Assessing the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol
A Definition of Democracy
Defining Democracy
Understanding Hong Kong nationalism
Understanding Democracy
Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement
Democracy and violence
Exporting autocracy
Beyond elections
Theorizing the Politics of Protest
Proactive internationalization and diaspora mobilization in a networked movement
From mobilization to improvisation
Soft Power Runs into Popular Geopolitics
Hongkongers' International Front
Donating to the fight for democracy
Political Resistance in the Marketplace
The US-led liberal order
Hong Kong identities and the friends and enemies of recent protests
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |