As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, 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 the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
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 familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
