When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
