When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
