The United States Under the New Administration Feels Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.

However over the past 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 the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of force.

But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears 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, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad