The United States During the New Administration Seems Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.

But in the year after the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie 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 may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“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 an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”

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

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

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

Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad