As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, 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, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
