When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
