When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing 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 government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States 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.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
