As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved 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 for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
