The America During the New Administration Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her fears reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of force.

But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

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

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”

The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad