Trump's America During the New Administration Feels Strangely Familiar to Observers from China

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

However over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of force.

But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment 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 as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad