The America During the New Administration Feels Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

However in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has not been shy 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 both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.

But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

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.

Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad