The America Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Recognizable to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

However over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.

However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

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

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad