When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
