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

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”

Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

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

Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … 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 “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad