When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives 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 – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal 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
