As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help 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.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – 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 was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
