When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil 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 seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention 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 Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
