When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
