The United States During the New Administration Seems Strangely Recognizable to Observers from the East

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.

However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Since Trump 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 mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.

But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom 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 espionage seeking to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

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

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

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad