As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
