When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … 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 early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “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,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
