The America Under the New Administration Seems Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's library system.

But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.

But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.

A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

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

“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad