When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
