As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. 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 originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
