As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once 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
