The America During the New Administration Feels Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, 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, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.

But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of 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 tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad