As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation 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.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
