As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
