The America During Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, 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 lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

However in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.

In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, 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 the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad