When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
