As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
