As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, 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 top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China 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 purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression 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 the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
