When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed 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 Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
