As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, 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 president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“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, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
