As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation'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 countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
