Trump's America During the New Administration Feels Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.

But in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.

But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

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

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad