As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge 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 would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
