When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into 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 atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
