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

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.

But over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak 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