When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, 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 reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
