As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
