When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
