When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, 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, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
