When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
