When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year after the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems 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 as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth 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, though absent the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’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, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
