As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
