As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
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 regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad