As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year since the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
