When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
