When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here 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 familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed 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 via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
