When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line 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 mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
