When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
