As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year after the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China 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 undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
