As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, 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 the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused 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 the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
