When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
