The United States During the New Administration Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”

Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.

However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad