When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality 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 face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
