As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. 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 appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
