When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after 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 in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
