As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year since the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears 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 reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
