Trump's United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from the East

As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.

However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.

The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.

But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.

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

“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.

“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.

The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”

Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad