When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities 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 the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
