When Vickie Wang, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s 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 public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
