A Riveted World Waits to See What’s Subsequent in America

In another post he said, “I’m from the Philippines and I AM ZERO PERCENT SURPRISED at how close this race is!”

There was a sense of “helplessness” in Singapore as the elections were watched, said Eugene Tan, professor of law and political analyst at Singapore Management University.

The United States plays an important role in the stability of Southeast Asia, he said, and there are concerns that a second Trump term, with perhaps an inward disposition, could “seismically alter the balance of power” for many years in that part of the world . “

The election has also changed the way Singaporeans see the United States, Tan said.

“We still tend to see America as the flag bearer of democracy and see how an election result is challenged, how people believe there will be violence, society will be more broken, I think that was pretty Eye opening for many in Singapore. “

While the gravity of the elections was evident in global coverage, in Japan it was a little capricious, intentional or not.

On Asahi TV, the hosts explained the electoral college using large puzzle pieces of battlefield states that had electoral votes and put them on photos of the candidates. A voting counter at the bottom of the screen showed pictures of the candidates who reacted to the increase in the number of votes: Mr. Trump was depicted in a lush “home alone” pose with his mouth open and hands waving on either side of his face. Mr. Biden appeared with his fist raised soberly.

At another point, Asahi set up swing states on fire. A correspondent for TBS, another network, appeared to be reporting from a Sims version of the Oval Office. And Fuji TV showed a voting counter with images of the candidates who looked more like characters in a Nintendo game or bobbleheads than the two men vying to lead the free world.

The reporting was written by Motoko Rich from Tokyo, Hannah Beech from Bangkok, Vivian Wang from Hong Kong, Yan Zhuang from Melbourne, Australia, Choe Sang-Hun from Seoul, South Korea and Farnaz Fassihi from New York. Claire Fu contributed to the research.