When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
