When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once 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 genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
