When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
