As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon 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 the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
