As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering 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 declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
