As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
