When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people 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, though absent the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
