When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
