When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing 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 talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
