When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
