When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
