When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations 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.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
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 his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
