When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, 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 because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy 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,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, 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 would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
