When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
