The United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Familiar to Observers from the East

As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However over the past year since the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing 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 violence.

However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.

In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

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

His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.

Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad