Most of what @wenliuncy said here applies to the pro-Trump wave in Hong Kong as well. Adding a few more points here that are more specifically to HK: https://twitter.com/wenliunyc/status/1324276394814132225

Many HKers know of Trump’s horrific record, but support him begrudgingly nevertheless out of a sense of desperation, esp. under NSL. https://hongkongfp.com/2020/10/10/desperate-times-desperate-measures-the-hong-kong-protesters-who-want-trump-to-win-a-second-term/

As a political emotion, desperation promotes tunneling: an intense focus on what seems to be the most immediate and concrete, while neglecting other important issues in a broader scope. This gives valence to geopolitically “realist” thinking and forms of organizing.

HKers who were active in the Anti-Extradition movement spent every week on the streets engaging in direct collective action. While Covid and NSL abruptly squelched street protests, embodied energies of the movement do not dissipate overnight.

Fervently supporting Trump in the election provides a concrete outlet that allows activists to feel agentive again as a collective. It also carries the promise of having a concrete outcome.

The emotional/affective nature of the pro-Trump sentiment in HK makes it impervious to evidence-based arguments: revealing Trump’s inconsistent stance towards Xi, for example, does not make HKers feel any less desperate under NSL.

The emotional urgency and spotlight effect on HK also makes it difficult for many to acknowledge the interconnectedness of grassroots struggles outside of the city, and organize accordingly.

. @zeynep points out that confusion and doubt leads people to perpetuate the status quo, which is counter of what a progressive social movement wants to accomplish.

The status quo here is an extension of the colonial imaginary: the most concrete solution is to appeal to an empire in the West embodied by a strongman figure to counter the more immediate colonizer.

These affects and ways of thinking cannot be undone overnight. The question we on the left have to grapple with is what political and pedagogical tools we can use to transform these political emotions and orientations into ones that expand people’s circle of concern.