When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
