When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident 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.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves 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 the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
