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

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe 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 relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.

However over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.

“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad