When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
