Trump's United States Under the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

However in the year since the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting 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 a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad