When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year since the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge 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.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
