Trump's America Under the New Administration Feels Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”

Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.

However after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”

The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad