When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year since the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
