When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
