When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, 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 more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
