When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
