As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called 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 governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked 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 typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
