[The Hill] For a century, Chinese Americans have been among the least partisan and politically engaged ethnic Asian groups in America. Because we’ve lived largely in urban and suburban areas in coastal liberal states, we have tended to be affiliated with Democratic Party, even while espousing conservative values.But over the last few years, I’ve witnessed more of my fellow Chinese-Americans abandoning the Democratic Party and generally becoming more politically conservative. There are several reasons for this, including Chinese Americans’ cultural conservatism and the Democratic Party’s slide toward socialism, which reminds many of us of the communism we fled in China.
The Republican Party is a natural home for Chinese-Americans, who tend to value free enterprise, individual responsibility, law and order, education and family cohesion. Many Chinese-Americans have been alienated by the Democrats’ emphasis on political correctness, social justice, wealth re-distribution and LGBTQ rights.
Chinese-Americans have often been the victims of the identity politics that Democrats have deployed over the last several decades through academia and the media‐including the push to institute racial preferences in college admissions, which disproportionately hurts high-achieving Asian-American students.
Past generations of Asian-Americans came to America largely as economic migrants or educated professionals from southern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other Asian countries. They tended to settle quietly and happily into America’s middle class.
Over the last decade or two, America has seen a strong inflow of immigrants from mainland China who came in search of freedom and better educational opportunities. Recent arrivals are beneficiaries of China’s economic boom, and they are more likely to favor individual liberty, limited government and low taxes. As Chinese-Americans have succeeded, they have become more conservative.