As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat 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,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
