When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state 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 it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
