As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
