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

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

However in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

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

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad