As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears 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,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
