The America During the New Administration Seems Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“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 rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”

Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family 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 could happen 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 the East.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”

The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad