The United States During the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Observers from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.

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

Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”

Since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad