The America Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”

Since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.

In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations 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 America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad