When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
