When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
But over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
