The United States During the New Administration Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's library system.

However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her fears mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.

However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad