When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
