As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year after the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America 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.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
