When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
