When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
