As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics 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 those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
