As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “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 liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
