As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
