When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
