As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
