As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens 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, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
