As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed 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, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
