When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat 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 “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
