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

When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

But in the year since the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her fears reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.

But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US 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, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad