Trump's America During Trump's Second Term Seems Strangely Familiar to Those Watching from China

When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”

The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.

But over the past year after the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”

Her fears reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.

Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.

“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”

Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of force.

However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.

‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’

The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.

A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.

Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.

“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.

Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.

“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.

Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”

“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.

Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government 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 acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.

On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous 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. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.

An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”

Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”

Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad