When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors 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 defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
