When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
