As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
