As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, 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 criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
