When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression 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 his homeland. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State 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 educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
