When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
