When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly 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 talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year after the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide 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 painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
