As Vickie Wang, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, 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 habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year after the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era 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 defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
