When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing 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 authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help 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.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left 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. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad