As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
