For the three decades after she became an American citizen, Annie Tan tried to stay out of the fray. Politics, she thought, was for politicians, not for “regular people” like her, a 71-year-old Chinese American immigrant from Taiwan living in Southern California.

在成为美国公民后的30年里，安妮·陈（音）一直试图置身事外。她认为，政治是政客的事，不适合像她这样的“普通人”。她是一位来自台湾、现居南加州的71岁华裔美国移民。

That all changed last year, when Ms. Tan was checking her bank statement and noticed something strange: two checks in her name that had been cashed for $949 each.

去年，一切都改变了，当时，陈女士在查看自己的银行对账单时发现了一些奇怪的事情：两张以她名义开出的支票被兑现，每张金额为949美元。

For Ms. Tan, a sales director at a local Chinese television station, the precise amounts were telling. In 2014, Californians voted to reduce penalties for some crimes, including forged checks where the amount did not exceed $950. This year, the law became a talking point for President-elect Donald J. Trump and other Republicans who argued that Democratic officials were out of touch with the electorate.

对于在当地一家中文电视台担任销售总监的陈女士来说，从这个有零有整的数字可以看出些端倪。2014年，加州人投票决定降低某些犯罪的处罚，包括伪造金额不超过950美元的支票。今年，这项法律成为当选总统特朗普和其他共和党人的一个重要议题，他们认为民主党官员脱离了选民的立场。

Ms. Tan was hardly a fan of Mr. Trump, who was accused of using racist rhetoric against Chinese Americans during the pandemic. But on crime, the Republican Party had a point, Ms. Tan thought. The same for transgender rights and affirmative action, she felt. The Democrats had gone too far.

对于被指在疫情期间对华裔美国人发表种族主义言论的特朗普，陈女士并无好感。但她认为，在犯罪问题上，共和党有其道理。她觉得，在跨性别权利和平权行动方面也是如此。民主党做得太过了。

So last month, for the first time in two decades, Ms. Tan cast a ballot for Republicans down the ticket.

因此，上个月，陈女士20年来第一次在选举中投票支持共和党。

“A lot of laws are not fair or good for us Chinese,” said Ms. Tan, who lives in Temple City, a suburb outside of Los Angeles with a predominantly Asian population.

“很多法律对我们华人来说并不公平，也不好，”居住在洛杉矶郊外天普市的陈女士说，那是亚裔人口占多数的一个地区。

Voters across the country shifted right this November, propelled by persistent frustrations about inflation, crime and immigration. But the drop in support for Democrats has been particularly noticeable among Chinese Americans, whose support for the Democratic presidential candidate fell to 53 percent this election from over 70 percent in 2020, according to the American Electorate Voter Poll, a large-scale national survey of voters.

今年11月，由于对通货膨胀、犯罪和移民问题的持续不满，全国各地的选民都向右转。但对民主党的支持率下降在华裔美国人中尤为明显，根据一项大规模全国性选民调查“美国选民投票”显示，他们对民主党总统候选人的支持率从2020年的70%以上下降到今年的53%。

加州亚凯迪雅的一个支持特朗普的标语，亚裔在这里占绝对多数。这里的选民向特朗普倾斜是总体右转趋势的一部分。

The shift was evident in heavily Chinese neighborhoods in New York City and San Francisco, but also in suburban regions like the San Gabriel Valley, several miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

这种转变在纽约市和旧金山的华人聚居区尤为明显，同时也出现在洛杉矶市中心以东几英里的圣盖博谷等郊区。

About 4.7 million people of Chinese descent live in the United States, and the population is still growing. As a group, most Chinese Americans, like Asian Americans in general, predominantly identify as Democratic. But first-generation Chinese Americans especially have been less committed to a particular party and have increasingly become concerned about crime and homelessness in American cities, which has punctured the sense of security they sought in the United States.

美国约有470万华裔，而且人口还在不断增长。作为一个群体，大多数华裔与亚裔美国人一样主要认同民主党。但第一代华裔美国人较特殊，没有那么忠于某个政党，他们越来越担心美国城市的犯罪和无家可归问题，这削弱了他们在美国寻求的安全感。

More socially conservative than their American-born children, many Chinese immigrants have also been turned off by Democratic support for affirmative action because they believe it does not reward merit. Few see relevance in the fight for transgender rights. They have a sense that the Democratic Party is the defender of minority groups — just not their own.

与他们在美国出生的孩子相比，许多华人移民在社会问题上更为保守，民主党支持的平权法案也让他们感到反感，因为他们认为这有违选贤举能的原则。很少有人认为争取跨性别者权利对他们自己有什么意义。他们认为民主党是少数群体的捍卫者——只是不包括他们。

Such views have often been distorted and widely circulated through online platforms like WeChat, X and YouTube. The result has been a frustration with the left, especially in Democratic-run coastal states that have large concentrations of Chinese Americans.

此类观点经常被扭曲，并通过微信、X和YouTube等网络平台广为传播。其结果是对左派的不满，尤其是在民主党控制的沿海州，这些州有大量华裔美国人。

“What we’re seeing, especially with Chinese Americans in some of the cities like San Francisco and New York, is a rejection of certain Democratic leaders that have taken what they see as a harder left position on issues like crime and safety, economy and education,” said James Zarsadiaz, a professor of history at the University of San Francisco who has written about Asian American conservatism.

“我们看到，尤其是对于旧金山和纽约等城市的华裔美国人，某些民主党领导人因在犯罪和安全、经济和教育等问题上采取华裔眼中更极端的左派立场而遭到否决，”曾就亚裔美国人保守主义撰文的旧金山大学历史学教授詹姆斯·扎萨迪亚兹表示。

In the San Gabriel Valley, Mr. Trump improved his performance this year from four years ago in nearly every Asian-majority city. A Chinese American Republican candidate in the 49th State Assembly District who focused heavily on public safety concerns won a higher share of the vote than any Republican challenger in the solidly Democratic district over the past decade. (The candidate, Long Liu, who goes by David, ultimately lost.)

在圣盖博谷，特朗普今年在几乎所有亚裔占多数的城市都取得了比四年前更好的成绩。在民主党稳稳控制的第49州议会选区，一位非常关注公共安全问题的华裔共和党候选人获得了10年来一个共和党挑战者在这里取得的最好成绩。（这位英文名David的候选人刘龙珠最终未能当选。）

It may seem counterintuitive to Democrats that a growing number of Chinese Americans would support Mr. Trump. During his first term, he called the coronavirus the “Chinese virus,” a label that fed xenophobia toward Asian Americans during the pandemic, and his administration took a confrontational stance against China. The Justice Department, under Mr. Trump, also ramped up a program that investigated and prosecuted Chinese American researchers and scientists as spies.

越来越多的华裔美国人支持特朗普，这对民主党人来说似乎有悖常理。在他的第一个任期内，他将冠状病毒称为“中国病毒”，这一标签在疫情期间助长了仇视亚裔美国人的情绪，他的政府对中国采取了对抗立场。在特朗普的领导下，司法部还加强了一项调查和起诉充当间谍的华裔美国研究人员和科学家的计划。

The effects of anti-Asian hate were deeply felt across California, including in the San Gabriel Valley, which has more than a dozen suburbs with an Asian-majority population. In 2021, reports of hate crimes against Asians jumped 107 percent from the year before, according to Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general.

反亚裔仇恨的影响在整个加州都十分深远，包括圣盖博谷，那里有十多个亚裔人口占多数的郊区。加州总检察长罗布·邦塔表示，2021年针对亚裔的仇恨犯罪报告比前一年增加了107%。

But not everyone blamed Mr. Trump’s rhetoric for precipitating the attacks. James Wang, 60, a first-generation Chinese American businessman from the city of San Gabriel, said that while his children did experience discrimination during the pandemic, racism already existed in America.

但并非所有人都将引发袭击事件归咎于特朗普的言论。60岁的詹姆斯·王是圣盖博市的第一代华裔商人，他说，虽然他的孩子们在疫情期间确实遭受了歧视，但种族主义在美国本来就存在。

“The United States is not a Chinese person’s country,” Mr. Wang said. “We are a minority here.”

“美国不是中国人的国家，”王先生说。“我们在这里是少数群体。”

Mr. Wang, a self-described independent who does not typically vote, was more concerned by crime and what he felt was America’s declining influence in the world. Over the past two years, a popular mall in nearby Arcadia had been hit several times by “smash-and-grab” thefts. In Rosemead, the number of homeless people living on major thoroughfares has noticeably increased after state officials began dismantling homeless encampments in Los Angeles this summer, said Steven Ly, the city’s mayor.

王先生自称是无党派人士，通常不投票，他更担心犯罪问题，此外还有他觉得美国在世界上的影响力在下降。在过去两年里，附近阿卡迪亚的一家受欢迎的购物中心多次遭遇“砸抢”。在罗斯米德，市长史蒂文·李（音）说，自今年夏天州政府官员开始拆除洛杉矶的无家可归者营地以来，居住在主要干道上的无家可归者数量明显增加。

It was enough, Mr. Wang said, to convince him to vote for Mr. Trump this year.

王先生说，这足以说服他今年投票给特朗普。

In Monterey Park, another Chinese-majority suburb, residents have complained about illegal boardinghouses and public littering. Some Chinese Americans have blamed undocumented Chinese migrants who have crossed the border over the past two years.

在另一个以华人为主的郊区蒙特利公园，居民抱怨非法寄宿屋和公共场所乱扔垃圾。一些华裔美国人认为这都要怪过去两年越过边境的中国无证移民。

“They’ve commented to me how, ‘We got here legally, I don’t know why they’re doing that,’” said Thomas Wong, the Democratic mayor of Monterey Park. “So there is this underlying tension and sentiment within our communities around some of the same rhetoric that has clearly propelled Trump to a second term.”

“他们跟我说，‘我们是合法入境的，我不知道他们为什么要这么做’，”蒙特利公园市民主党市长托马斯·黄（音）说道。“所以，我们社区内部围绕着某种叙事潜藏着紧张和情绪，而那种叙事显然推动了特朗普第二次当选。”

蒙特利公园的民主党市长托马斯·黄说，在这个亚裔占多数的郊区，居民们对非法寄宿屋和公共场所乱扔垃圾表达了不满。

Chinese-language social media spaces, which are popular among first-generation immigrants, reinforced the perception that California and New York were lawless states with Democratic leaders. Many of the narratives drew from right-wing, English-language misinformation and disinformation.

在第一代移民中很受欢迎的中文社交媒体空间强化了人们的这种看法：加州和纽约州是民主党领导的无法无天的地方。许多叙述都来自右翼的英文错误信息和虚假信息。

Among the most popular was the false claim that as attorney general of California, Kamala Harris was responsible for the 2014 criminal justice measure that reduced sentences for shoplifting up to $950 from stores. Many referred to the thefts in Chinese as “zero-dollar shopping.”

其中最流行的虚假声说法是，担任加州检察长期间，贺锦丽要对2014年的刑事司法措施负责，该措施对在商店行窃不超过950美元的行为实施减刑。在中文中，许多人将这种盗窃称为“零元购”。

Ms. Harris never publicly took a position on the measure. But there were rarely articles or videos rebutting the claims on Chinese-language social media, said Jinxia Niu, who leads Piyaoba, a Chinese-language fact-checking organization based in San Francisco.

贺锦丽从未就该措施公开表态。但旧金山中文事实核查机构辟谣吧的负责人牛金霞（音）表示，在中文社交媒体上很少有反驳这些说法的文章或视频。。

Ms. Niu noted that the Harris campaign did run a Chinese-language opinion piece right before the election. But it was published in The World Journal, a newspaper that has limited reach among Chinese Americans from mainland China, many of whom rely more on online platforms like WeChat.

牛金霞指出，贺锦丽竞选团队确实在大选前发表了一篇中文观点文章。但是是发表在《世界日报》上，该报在来自中国大陆的华裔美国人中的影响力有限，其中许多人更多依赖微信等在线平台。

It remains to be seen how long the rightward shift will last. Chinese Americans still align more with Democrats on certain issues such as gun control and climate change, and many have chafed at what they see as growing anti-China rhetoric and policies, particularly in Republican-led states. Younger, American-born Chinese Americans also see the Democratic Party as the stronger defender of ethnic minorities.

这种向右转的趋势会持续多长时间还有待观察。在枪支管制和气候变化等某些问题上，华裔美国人仍更多地与民主党保持一致，许多人对他们认为的日益增长的反华言论和政策感到不满，尤其是在共和党领导的州。在美国出生的年轻华裔美国人也认为，民主党是更有力的少数族裔捍卫者。

“It’s the first-generation immigrants who still retain a lot of the conservative traditional values that they have from back home,” said Aidan Chao, a second-generation Taiwanese American and a political consultant who works with Republican candidates in the San Gabriel Valley.

“第一代移民仍然保留着家乡的许多保守的传统价值观，”第二代台裔美国人艾丹·赵（音）说，他是一名政治顾问，在圣盖博谷为共和党候选人工作。

At a marathon Rosemead City Council meeting in October, a parade of mostly Chinese American immigrants stepped up to the podium to decry the city’s plans to open a small facility for homeless mothers and children.

10月，在罗斯米德市议会一场马拉松式会议上，人们纷纷上前发言，其中大多是华裔美国移民，他们谴责该市为无家可归的母亲和儿童开设小型设施的计划。

Many were convinced that the project was in fact a homeless shelter for 400 people. One woman, speaking through a Mandarin translator, blasted “you Democrats” for “shoving homeless people into every town and city.”

许多人相信，该项目实际上是一个可容纳400人的无家可归者收容所。一名讲普通话的女性通过翻译抨击“你们民主党人”“把无家可归者塞进每个城镇”。

City Council members quickly tried to make it clear that the supportive housing facility would not be allowed to expand beyond its stated cap of 87 people. They urged the charity developing the facility to work more directly with the Chinese community.

市议会成员很快试图明确表示，支持住房设施的规模不会超过规定的87人上限。他们敦促该慈善机构开发的设施更直接地与华人社区合作。

Ultimately, in the wee hours of the morning, the council approved the project.

最后，在凌晨1点，市议会批准了该项目。

Mr. Ly, the Rosemead mayor who has described himself as a “George W. Bush Republican,” said that Democrats could win back some Chinese Americans if they took the voters’ concerns more seriously. Too often, he suggested, Democrats have dismissed their perspectives as the product of misinformation or disinformation.

自称“小布什共和党人”的罗斯米德市市长李先生说，如果民主党更认真地对待选民的关切，他们就能赢回一些华裔。他认为，民主党人经常将华裔选民的观点视为误传或虚假信息的产物而不予理睬。

“That’s why Trump won, he’s willing to talk about the economy, crime and public safety,” Mr. Ly said. “It’s the left hiding under the covers until the problem goes away.”

“这就是特朗普获胜的原因，他愿意谈论经济、犯罪和公共安全，”李先生说。“而左翼躲在掩护之下，等着问题消失。”