When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more 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 concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
