The United States Under the New Administration Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

But over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.

However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad