As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
