As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face 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 the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
