When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal 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 after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
