As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, 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 improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
