When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage 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 should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
