As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
