When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
