When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, 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 rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding 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 refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
