As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office 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'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
