As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called 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 diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
