When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
