As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see 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, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
