When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns 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 face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, 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 environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
