As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, 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 the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed 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 – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, 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 painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
