As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year after the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although 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 China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
