The America Under the New Administration Feels Oddly Familiar to Observers from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.

However in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her fears mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”

Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

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

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 since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump 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 information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

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

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad