As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government 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 in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
