When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
