As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year since the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China 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 purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
