The America Under the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from China

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her fears reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.

But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

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

“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”

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

Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad