When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting 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,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
