When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
