Yan Xiaozhe, a Chinese-American from Iowa, strolled along Cleveland Public Square on Tuesday afternoon, while protesters chanted slogans nearby and bicycle-patrol police stood alertly amid a crowd of onlookers.
Yan was not just any tourist in Cleveland. The Chinese community leader was "a guest" of the Republican National Convention.
"I was invited as an independent, so I have come here to learn and to observe, to see what I can decide in the next few months before Nov 8 ⅔(Election Day in the United States)," he said.
"I think America is at a crossroads between Hillary and Trump," said Yan, who immigrated to the US from Northeast China's Jilin province 25 years ago at the age of 29.
"It's very controversial. Maybe it's the most contentious presidential election in 20 to 30 years — a lot of drama, a lot of big changes."
Yan, the founder of the President Youth Leadership Initiative, is one of 20 people from Chinese communities across the U.S. — mostly in California, New York and Florida — attending the four-day convention as guests.
Their presence partly shows the focus the Republican Party has placed on the Chinese-American community, as well as the growing participation of Chinese-Americans in the U.S. political process.
"I think it's very important to get involved, to have your community's voice heard by the mainstream," said Yan, who added that he is undecided between GOP nominee Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the presumed Democratic nominee.
That sense of involvement was also apparent with David Tian Wang, a 32-year-old from Los Angeles who co-organized an RNC Asian Pacific American National Forum at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cleveland on Wednesday.
Wang, a Trump supporter, started an organization called Chinese Americans for Trump, which has grown from three people in June last year to a nationwide organization that now has more than 6,000 registered members.
"We help him canvass, write policy focused on education reform and raise funds," Wang said, adding that Chinese-Americans are increasingly becoming politically involved.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, who spoke at Wednesday's forum, said he was glad that Chinese-Americans were becoming more influential in U.S .politics.
