As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, 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 post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
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 government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face 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.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
