As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, 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 reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
