When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
