As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
