As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president 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 of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“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 online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
