When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
