When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year since 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, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations 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 to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
