The America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Observers from the East

When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.

But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad