The America Under the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad