When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's 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 stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
