When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree 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. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
