When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices 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 dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
