The America Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Familiar to Observers from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”

Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.

However in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of force.

But since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad