When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, 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, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
