When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
