Trump's United States During the New Administration Seems Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year since the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on 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 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 the same levels of violence.

But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, 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 promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad