When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America 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 president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted 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. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be 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 business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
