As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
But in the year since the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country 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 across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed 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 a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
