The America During the New Administration Seems Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.

However over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.

However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad