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

When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.

However in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of force.

However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating 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 Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.

Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad