When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, 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 government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, 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, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
