As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
