When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year after the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident 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.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
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 internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
