When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
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 sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
