When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
