When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
But over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become 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 sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
