When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’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 all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
