The America Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However over the past year after the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of force.

But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad