As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America 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 masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
