As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
