When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
