As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
