As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year after the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … 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, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
