As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding 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 the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
