When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year after the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
