Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, 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 openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.

But over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.

However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.

There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad