When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
