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

As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”

Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.

However over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”

Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”

Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’

The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.

Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.

Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.

Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.

Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”

“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”

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

On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.

Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”

Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad