As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, 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 the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
