The United States Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.

But in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her fears reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.

However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad