As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America 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 China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
