The United States During the New Administration Feels Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.

However over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.

However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed 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 the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … 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 “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.

On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad