When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of 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 divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase 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 demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
