When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
