When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage 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 a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues 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 well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
