When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, 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 decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors 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 the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
