As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, 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 mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
