As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who 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 was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
