When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year since the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused 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 America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
