As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
