As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase 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 would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
