As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis 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,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government'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 announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
