As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power 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 an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
