When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas 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 president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous 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 refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
