As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about 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, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions 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. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
