When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
