As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year since the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective 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 as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears 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 sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
