Trump's United States Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Recognizable to Observers from China

As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, 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 America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad