The United States During Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from China

As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”

Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.

However in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying 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 the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.

But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’

The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad