When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and 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 government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
