When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of force.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms 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 a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad