When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
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 somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that the US 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 including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
