Trump's United States Under the New Administration Feels Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.

But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.

However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad