When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
