The United States During the New Administration Seems Strangely Familiar to Observers from China

As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established 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 notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad