When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused 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 America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
