As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
