When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed 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, though absent the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
