As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
