The America Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Recognizable to Observers from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “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 tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

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

On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad