When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing 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, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
