As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
