As Vickie Wang, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity 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 a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
