As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a 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 appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
