As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … 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 early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
