When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected 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 more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
