When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity 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 a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
