As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
