As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
