Trump's United States Under the New Administration Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

However over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.

But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

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

Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad