As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just 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. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, 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 the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, 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 … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned 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 the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
