The United States During the New Administration Seems Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.

But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.

But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

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

His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad