When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
