As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year since the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
