Trump's America During the New Administration Feels Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.

However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

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

Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad