When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
