When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
