The America During Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Recognizable to Those Watching from the East

As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if 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, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.

However in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.

The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed 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 that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.

“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.

However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.

A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.

In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.

“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.

His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.

“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”

“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.

Progressive Chinese, 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 somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”

The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.

Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.

There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.

Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”

Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “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