As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
