As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
