As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
