As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures 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 become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
