As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
