As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
