The United States Under Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Recognizable to Observers from China

As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”

The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.

But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”

Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start 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 the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.

But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate 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 the East is the suppression on open expression.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.

Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We once viewed America 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, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”

The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.

On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase 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 news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.

An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, 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 more liberal than the East under its leader.”

The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad