As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing 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 declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad