The United States Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

However over the past year since the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her fears reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of force.

But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown 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 China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.

Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.

“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon 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, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad