As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing 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 in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
