When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned 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, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
