When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
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 they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
