When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, 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 making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
