When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
