As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
