As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America 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 after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling 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 required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
