As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
