When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments 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 never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible 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 its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
