As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
