As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
