The America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Oddly Familiar to Observers from China

When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.

However in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.

But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from officials.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad