When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. 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 online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year after the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America 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, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
