As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that 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, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
