When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown 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. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
