When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated 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 through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
