As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis 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 observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
