The United States Under the New Administration Seems Strangely Recognizable to Observers from China

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.

However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of force.

However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

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

On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor 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 the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad