As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
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 US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
