When Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse 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 that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions 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 required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
