When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“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 mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
