When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump 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 via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, 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 America since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
