The America Under the New Administration Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit from China.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

But in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”

Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.

But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad