When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
