The America Under the New Administration Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.

But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of violence.

But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, 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 after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”

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

Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad