When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year after the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. 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 that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
