When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, 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 in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
