When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
