As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives 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 the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics 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 added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. 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 symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still 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 required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
