When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However over the past year after the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, 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 China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
