The United States Under the New Administration Feels Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.

However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.

However after 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 seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs 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 seeking to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

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

“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … 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 declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

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

The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad