When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
