When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed 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 the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
