When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable 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 improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
