The United States During the New Administration Feels Strangely Familiar to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad