As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed 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
