As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “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 publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … 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 the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established 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 would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
