As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. 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, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept 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, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
