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

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

However in the year after the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.

However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad