When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
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 understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. 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 originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
