As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” 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 openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although 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 all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
