When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
