When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
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 Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
