As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
