As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding 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 the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
