When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
