When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi 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 was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘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 dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
