When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However in the year after the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
