Trump's America During the New Administration Seems Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

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

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of violence.

But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

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

“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad