When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However in the year since the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant 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 never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
