The United States During the New Administration Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.

However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.

But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”

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

Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad