When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not just considering 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. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
But in the year since the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries 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, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat 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,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
