When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
