When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once 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 more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
