When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage 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.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not 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 outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
