When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism 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.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. 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, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still 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 required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
