As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year after the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
