As Vickie Wang, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor 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 genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
