When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event 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 pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal 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 appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government 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 left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
