Editor’s note: Shocking the United States and the rest of the world, Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol Building in Washington DC on Jan 6 claiming that Trump was the victim of a “stolen election”. How did things come to such a pass, and how far-reaching will be the impact of the horrendous act on US society? Five experts share their views on the issue with China Daily. Excerpts follow:

A result of power serving the wealthy and corrupt

Let us be reminded the assault on freedom and democracy in the US began 20-plus years ago when those in the halls and boardrooms of power decided to govern for the wealthy, corrupting and sucking dry as a bone all the goodness found in Western capitalism’s attributes.

While both sides of the divide play blame games, the neutral observer informs us that blaming Trump would be missing the bigger picture. The US is in decline because its government and economic system were forged into something rotten.

When those in power promise “what’s best for the American people”, they do not mean it, or actually care about it. Their shameful lip service is evident in the decisions, legislation, and the policies. They have created a society where the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness is not even possible because the opportunities to do so have vanished.

Mario Cavolo, a senior fellow at the Beijing-based Center for China and Globalization.

Unleashing the forces of hate and divisions

The entire world was shocked by the mayhem in the US, the largest developed country which supposedly values law and order. The large-scale vandalism will tarnish the image of the US as a great power.

Trump fanned the passions of his supporters, who released their pent-up “anger” against what he described as a “stolen election”. His remarks are considered by many Americans as unleashing the forces of hate and divisions.

The incident reflects the split between people for and against Trump in the US. That means the new US president, Joe Biden, faces a big challenge. Facing such a divided society, Biden will have too many hot potatoes to deal with including bridging social and racial divides, and containing the pandemic.

But in the short term, the chaos may help Biden elicit more public support, which may facilitate a relatively smooth transition of power. Besides Democrats, many Republicans have also criticized Trump for harming their party’s reputation.

Given that Democrats will have control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, it should be easier for Biden to appoint secretaries in his administration and implement policies. The world is watching the developments.

Yuan Zheng, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies at the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Hopefully, Biden will ditch Trump’s populist policies

The illegal occupation of Capitol Hill that disrupted the congressional confirmation of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration was planned, instigated and orchestrated by the previous White House occupant and his loyalists.

Populist politics is destructive not only for the US but for the rest of the world. It is reckless, ruthless and rudderless. I hope the Biden-Harris administration will abandon Trump’s wrong policies.

To inherit the past administration’s foreign policy without mentioning its author while trying to clean up its ideology domestically would be using double standard and condoning the ideology at home. If not contained, populism would bite even harder and cause more havoc not just for the US and China, but humanity as a whole.

Jia Wenshan, a professor of communication and global studies, Chapman University, California.

Alchemy of political, social, medical issues

Underlying America’s unfolding crisis is the same alchemy of political-social-financial-pandemic issues that amalgamated in the Great Depression, which fueled the rise of the Third Reich — Nazi Germany — in Europe leading to World War II.

The US’ past decades of national debt over-leveraging to support capital markets that enrich the super elite at the cost of debt riddling most households, now crippled by COVID-19, and unable to put food on the tables, are the ingredients of populist movements that surged in Europe and America in another era.

Such movements are resuscitating today, evidenced in hard-line rightist protesters and militia storming the Capitol. It should be clear what comes next.

Laurence Brahm, a US documentary filmmaker living in China.

Divided society will make Biden’s job more difficult

Before thousands of people stormed the Capitol, Trump had urged supporters to express their dissatisfaction with the presidential election result. But it is difficult to say whether he will be held accountable for the chaos according to US laws, especially because it is unprecedented in US history.

The Biden administration could amend laws to prevent such incidents from happening again.

Biden will give top priority to domestic affairs. But dealing with a divided US society is a daunting task. He needs to contain COVID-19 as soon as possible, although the disagreement over how to end the crisis still divides the US.

Li Yan, a researcher in US studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, Beijing.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.