As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. 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 disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – 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 surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, 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 the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
