When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties 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, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
