When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
