As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
But in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
