The America Under Trump's Second Term Feels Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”

Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters 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 a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.

“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.

But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen 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 government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.

“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.

Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”

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

Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad