The America During the New Administration Feels Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” 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 the government … I think it's a habit from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.

However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad