As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
