When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
But in the year since the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, 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.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
