The America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.

However over the past year since the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

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

Since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.

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

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.

Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad