When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects 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 has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
