When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
