When Vickie Wang, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth 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 America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said 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, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “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 a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
