As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, 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 would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
