When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called 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 mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
