When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, 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, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure 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 lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
