As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
