The America During Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Recognizable to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.

However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of force.

However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

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

On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States 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 China under Xi.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad