When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
