As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions 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. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
