As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
