As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
