When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
