As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
