When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year after the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
