As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death 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 making negative comments about Kirk – 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 hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. 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 major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
