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

As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.

But since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump 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. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad