When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
