Trump's United States During the New Administration Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However over the past year after the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.

However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad