As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed 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 America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar 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 type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
