When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking 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,” he commented.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained 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, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened 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 dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face 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 while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
