When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears 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 sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous 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 the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
