When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once 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: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
