When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. 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 authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors nervous 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. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
