The United States Under the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”

The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders 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. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad