When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US'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 developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
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 defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
