When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family 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 such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country 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 beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
