The America During the New Administration Feels Strangely Recognizable to Observers from the East

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad