As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said 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 dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
