When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year since the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
