When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year after 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 in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump 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 temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
