When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
