When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
