When Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. 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.
However in the year after the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, 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 perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
