When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
