As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, 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 America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
