When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen 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 such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
