Trump's America During the New Administration Seems Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

But in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of force.

But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad