When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures 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 piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
