When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of 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 since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
