As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
