When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US'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 developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
