As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
