As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, 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 seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
