When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this 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 bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … 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 “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump 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 government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
