The United States Under the New Administration Feels Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from China

When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from 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 think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine 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 the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

But since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

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

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad