As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted 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 seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen 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 government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
