When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. 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 a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
