When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, 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 reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, 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 defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
