As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly 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, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
