As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. 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 social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues 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 today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, 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 the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
