When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention 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 demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States 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.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
