When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
