As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. 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 originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, 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 declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad