As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken 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 more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad