The United States During the New Administration Feels Strangely Familiar to Observers from the East

When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.

But in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of force.

However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

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

Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad