As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of 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 surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
