When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences 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 they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
