As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
