When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since 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 generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated 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 all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
