When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
