When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she 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 online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders 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 to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
