Try to avoid grouping people by nationality or making generalisations about people from a particular country. If you need to, use an adjective with “people”.

<aside> ✅ Chinese people

</aside>

<aside> ❌ The Chinese

</aside>

Don't use "American" to refer to the US. This suggests a US-centric worldview. America is North America, including Canada, Central America and South America

How you refer to the public is largely dependent on context. Feel free to choose from any of these words: people, the public or audiences.