When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – 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 surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
