As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But in the year since the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi 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 vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. 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 suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
