When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However in the year since the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance 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 here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
