When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
