As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
