As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
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 risky. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
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 campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
