When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
