As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
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 have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
