As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US 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 the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
