The United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from China

When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.

However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

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

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments 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 surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

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

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.

Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions 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 approved news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad