When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol 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 the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
