When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. 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 on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. 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. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
