When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
