When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
