As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era 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 … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
