The America Under the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.

But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's 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 shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments 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”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.

But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad