When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’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, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
