As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘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, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
