When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused 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 the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
