When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” 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 it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take 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 left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
