When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder 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 will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
