When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” 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 Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, 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 America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
