U.S. first lady Melania Trump walks along the Mutianyu Great Wall section in Beijing on Nov. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)2025-02-20T02:03:31Z WASHINGTON (AP) Joyce Yip, a 39-year-old entrepreneur in southern Chinas Guangzhou, has a new celebrity crush: Melania Trump.The two-time first lady has become an online celebrity in China, especially among women. That may be surprising, given her husbands hostility toward China, but social media posts reflect an admiration for her independence, her taste in fashion and how shes raising her teenage son. And, perhaps most importantly, her stoic allegiance to President Donald Trump despite his misogynistic comments, allegations that hes had extramarital affairs and his being found liable for sexual abuse in a civil suit brought by a New York advice columnist.She looks heroic, elegant and resolute, so powerful and majestic, loving it so much, Yip wrote on the Instagram-like platform Xiaohongshu after the inauguration last month. After the first lady wore a wide-brimmed hat to the inauguration, similar products appeared on online shops and knitting influencers on Xiaohongshu posted videos showing people how to make their own within 48 hours.By Chinas conventional standards, women are expected to be supportive of their husbands and to focus on raising children. But Melania Trumps streaks of independence also appeal to Chinese fans, as does her ascent from small-town Slovenian roots to the top of the worlds social ladder. Chinese fans like her having both traditional and modern sides of a woman, said Jingsi Wu, an associate professor of media studies at Hofstra University in New York. Both sides are on display in a 4-year-old video that showed Melania Trump refusing to hold her husbands hand as they disembarked from Air Force One. The video has scored more than 5 million likes on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and still generates views and comments.Around half a million people liked a November post on Xiaohongshu that joked about how unwilling the usually reserved Melania Trump must be to return to the very public life of a first lady. A satire in The New Yorker magazine meant to be critical of her marriage to the president received 1 million views on Bilibili, a YouTube-like platform, and only seemed to boost her popularity. Almost 30,000 people liked a November post about a years-old interview Melania Trump and her husband did on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, saying their relationship was super sweet. Ge Yahan is among Melanias fans. The 24-year-old from Zibo on Chinas eastern coast calls Melania a mysterious lady who was brave enough to follow her dreams from a small town in Slovenia to the United States.Her celebrity crush brings in a bit of pocket money too. She has been selling unauthorized copies of Melanias new self-titled memoir translated to Mandarin by AI on Chinas social media underground for eight yuan ($1.10). Donald Trump has been openly critical of Chinas economic practices as barriers to Americas financial success. He launched a trade war during his first term by imposing hefty tariffs on Chinese imports, adding more after he returned to office last month. He mocked the deadly coronavirus as the Kung Flu, a racist term for COVID-19. Earlier this year, Trump claimed, without evidence, that thousands of Chinese immigrants are flooding the U.S. to build an army and attack America. But Wu, the academic, said people in China often see U.S. politics as akin to a soap opera.Pouring over details of leaders lives is a novelty to many in China, where top leaders tend to appear only in tightly stage-managed public settings. Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan, who was a well-known singer before marrying Xi Jinping, has kept a higher profile than the wives of previous leaders, but the couples lifestyle is still so little known that its not clear where they live or whether they have a pet.Rose LuQiu, an associate professor at School of Communication in Hong Kong Baptist University, said fans see Donald Trump as a winner, whose success the first lady shares.The more independent and accomplished she is but still unwaveringly loyal to (Donald) Trump the more it reflects his perceived success as a man, she said. Huang Li, who works in public relations for the fashion industry and sells Melania Trumps memoir online on the side, says she doesnt care about politics, but says she likes Trump for his hard work and the courage he showed by yelling fight, fight, fight after being shot during an assassination attempt in July.Huang has sold more than 30 copies of Melanias memoir, which is not available in China. Chinas National Publications Import & Export Shanghai Co. is pre-selling English copies for 290 yuan ($40), and its not clear if there are plans for an official translation.People want to know more about her, Huang said.Fans also like what they see as sacrifices Melania Trump has made to help her 18-year-old son Barron. Many have joked that she only agreed to move back to the White House dormitory to help with his career. Wu said this appeals to Chinese fans. Chinese pay extra attention to parenting, she said. Melanias perseverance amid her husbands personal and political scandals resonates with fans even more.Melania is a woman who is low-key, very real, supports her husband in the back and stands with him when he needs her, said Yip, the entrepreneur.Like many admirers of Melania, Yip said she liked the presidents daughter Ivanka during her highlight moments eight years ago. But Yip now views her a traitor for testifying in her fathers civil fraud trial in New York last year after being ordered by the judge to take the stand. Even though Ivanka Trump revealed little, Yip and many other Chinese believe she betrayed her father.The rules of this society are that men are allowed to be disloyal, but not women, said Yip, Melania is very loyal to her husband. FU TING Ting reports for APs Global Investigations team. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter