As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
