When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals 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 all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
