As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
