When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems 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 the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face 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 China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
