When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
