china newspapers donald trump america

The election of US President Donald Trump has sparked a wave of protectionist sentiment that has hurt Chinese interests in the US. Pic: AP

Donald Trump tops list of most-Googled people in the world

AS 2016 comes to a close, it’s fascinating to look back on some of the biggest events of the year – and for better or for worse, the one event that has grabbed the most headlines this year has been Donald Trump.

His rise and eventual winning of the presidency of the United States of America has been sensational news even now, more than a month after election day. It’s no surprise that Trump now commands the list of most-Googled people in the world, according to data provided to TIME magazine by Google.

Trump is the top-trending person in 88 countries, including India, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, and Taiwan in Asia Pacific. However, other Asian countries appeared to have other interests apart from his loud voice and controversial antics.

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In Hong Kong, the top-trending person is Regine Yau Wai-ching, a member of localist political party Youngspiration. According to TIME, she became the youngest woman ever elected to the country’s legislature before she was disqualified for botching her oath on purpose.

Indonesia took interest in a similarly controversial political event – their most-Googled person was Ahok, the current Governor of Jakarta who has been facing trial for allegedly blaspheming the Quran, which he was accused of insulting.

The rest of Southeast Asia had less political interests. Burma’s top-trending person is Eric Nam, a Korean-American pop star and TV personality, while Thailand was fascinated by Song Joong-ki, a South Korean actor who acted as the leading man in a TV series titled ‘Descendants of the Sun’.

Singapore was enamored by their Olympic hero Joseph Schooling, who beat the most decorated Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps, in a race that won him the country’s first Olympic gold medal ever.

Vietnam’s person of interest was also in the entertainment industry, but takes a grimmer twist – they Googled Minh Bo the most, a Vietnamese comedian who was sentenced to 18 months prison for the sexual assault of a teenage boy in California.