Trump's America Under the New Administration Feels Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from China
When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – 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 attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, 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 observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad