When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
