As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, 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,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
