When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” 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, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable 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, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
