When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize 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 the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies 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 American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
