As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
