When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies 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 state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
