As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
