As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, 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.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
