When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, 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 the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
