As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” 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 concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
