When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled China because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide 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 the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing 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 Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders 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. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
