When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into 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, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
