The America Under the New Administration Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

But in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.

But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad