As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
But over the past year after the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
