As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year since the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
