When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, 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 government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
