As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year since the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
