When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, 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 president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined 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, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused 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
