As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed 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 optimism in America that improved relations 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, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “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 the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
