As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called 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 became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“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 attempting to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked 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 inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
