As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie 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 to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive 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 correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with 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 here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
