When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US 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, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of force.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event 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,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
