As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas 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, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
