When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
