When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention 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 reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
