Trump's United States Under the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from China

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.

However in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating 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 progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't 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 since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad