The America Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Recognizable to Observers from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad