As Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
