When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
