The United States Under the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.

But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.

But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

His pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad