When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be 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 yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
