When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
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 the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
