When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
