When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “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, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, 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, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
