When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America 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.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
