As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
