As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, 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 surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
