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

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

However in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.

However after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad