When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“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, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
