When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
