As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
