On May 14, 2026, Professor Wang Hao of Fudan University’s Center for American Studies, who also serves as Executive Deputy Director of the Fudan–UC Center on Contemporary China, was invited to speak in the “China Focus” lecture series hosted by the 21st Century China Center at the University of California San Diego. His lecture was titled “Chinese Scholars’ Understanding of the ‘Make America Great Again’ Movement and American Politics in the Trump Era.” The event was moderated by Professor Victor Shih, Director of the 21st Century China Center, with Professor Barry Naughton, a distinguished American scholar of China, serving as discussant. More than 100 scholars and students from UC San Diego and other institutions participated in person and online, taking part in the discussion and Q&A.

Professor Wang began by examining the diverse ways in which Chinese scholars have interpreted the Trump phenomenon and the “Make America Great Again” movement. He organized these interpretations into four broad narratives: political decay, problem-solving, a new political cycle, and hybrid accounts. On this basis, he explored a potential paradigm shift in the study of American politics, from cycle-based approaches to identity-based approaches. Using this shift as his analytical framework, Professor Wang focused on the political and social logic of the MAGA movement, its core ideas and principles, and its evolution over the course of Trump’s two presidential terms. He also assessed the movement’s possible future trajectory.

During the discussion and Q&A, Professor Naughton and other participants engaged Professor Wang in an in-depth exchange on the challenges the MAGA movement may face in a post-Trump era, the Democratic Party’s difficulties in pursuing political transformation, the implications of changes in American domestic politics for China, and the future trajectory of political competition between the two parties.

Since September 2024, Professor Wang has been based at UC San Diego on assignment from Fudan University, serving as Executive Deputy Director of the Fudan–UC Center on Contemporary China. Established in 2012, the center was the first overseas China studies center jointly founded by leading universities in China and the United States. It is dedicated to advancing academic cooperation and people-to-people exchange between the two countries.