The America During Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.

However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her fears mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of force.

However after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad