Trump's America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “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'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.

However in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.

But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.

“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad