Trump's United States During the New Administration Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.

However in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.

But since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled 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 nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad