When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
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 his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US'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 promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
