As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
