When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed 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 China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
