When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she added, 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 progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
