The United States During Trump's Second Term Seems Oddly Familiar to Those Watching from the East

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

But in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, 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 societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”

Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.

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 seems familiar to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

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

His backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”

The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad