When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge 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 “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
