When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
