When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms 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 significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
