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

When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”

The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”

Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”

Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.

However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’

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

Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.

In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”

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

Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad