The United States Under the New Administration Feels Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

However in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”

Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

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

Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

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

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad