As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
