As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting 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. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
