The America During Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Observers from China

As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her fears mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”

Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.

However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident 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.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. 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, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad