The United States Under the New Administration Feels Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.

But over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures 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 become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.

But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

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

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”

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

On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad