When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance 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 those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing 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 about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
